woodfine

I have another question for all you kind people about our move to Rome this summer.
We have started house hunting and have found an apartment that might suit our needs.
The estate agent who is handling the rental contract has said that the owners require a one year bank guarantee and 3 months rent as a deposit.
Is it standard to ask for this or is it because we are "foreigners"??
As we haven't even got a bank account yet, will the bank be willing to provide such a guarantee?
We will open an account at the bank based at work but obviously have no credit rating yet ( so important in UK) so I am not sure of our eligibility.

Any info gratefully received as to how normal these requirements are and how others have managed them.

Ruby2

Hi woodfine

We are on our second 1 year rental in Italy and this has been our experience with rental contracts:

The first time we were asked for a deposit of 3 months' rent (returned promptly in full at the end of the contract period) and we paid the rent every month by bank transfer from our UK bank.

The second time our prospective landlord was more wary of being paid from a UK bank and asked for a direct debit guarantee from an Italian bank. We didn't know there was such a thing but opened an Italian bank account anyway since we thought it was about time we did. We got something called the CRO code referring to the monthly payment we set up for a year to cover the rent. We gave this to the landlord along with a copy of the transaction which seemed to be what was required. We also were asked for 3 months' rent as a deposit.

We opened a bank account easily. We picked the Banco San Marco which had just become part of the national Bancopopolare group. The woman we spoke to in the local branch seemed fairly welcoming and there was a promotion on which means we get free banking until 2015. We didn't need to give any references or demonstrate a credit rating although by then we had applied for residency and had the necessary bits of paper to prove it. That seemed to be enough. Maybe Bancopopolare is about to go bust!

Both times we also paid one month's rent as agency fee.

From what I've read the 3 months' deposit and agency fee are pretty standard.

Hope this helps and good luck in Rome!

Garbatellamike

Yes that is my experience too. You may get away with a smaller deposit (1 or 2 months) if unfurnished.