Aval bancario
Bank guarantee
A bank undertaking to pay the landlord if you do not — and it counts inside the deposit cap.
An aval is a facility your bank issues in the landlord's favour: if you stop paying, the bank pays and then comes after you. It is a common answer when your file is otherwise short of what an insurer wants.
It is not free money. The bank immobilises one or two months' rent for the duration and charges opening and standing fees on top, so it costs more than the deposit it replaces and ties up funds you cannot reach.
Crucially, on a primary-residence lease it counts within the additional-guarantee allowance rather than on top of it. That is the fact to have ready when an aval is proposed alongside a deposit that already sits at the ceiling.
What to check in the contract
Check what the aval covers and for how long, and confirm in writing when it is released. An aval that quietly survives the end of the tenancy is money still immobilised.
Renting when your income is foreign
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