Property for rent

The Law on the Special Regime for Leasing Residential Property, published in Extraordinary Official Gazette 7,065 of 7 August 2026, only applies to contracts signed from that date. Under it the rent is agreed freely and can be set in foreign currency, the deposit is capped at three months, and eviction is sought directly before a municipal court, without the earlier step through SUNAVI. Earlier contracts remain governed by the 2011 law.

The law sets no list of requirements for the tenant: what is asked for comes from market practice. In Caracas you are usually asked for an ID card or passport, a RIF, an employment or income letter, personal references and, depending on the case, a guarantor. What the law does set since August 2026 is the limit on the deposit: an insurance policy or a deposit of up to three months’ rent, never both.

Under the August 2026 law the contract must be in writing and contain at least six things: who the parties are and in what capacity they act, which property it is, the term, the amount of the rent, the list of services and who pays the utilities. Taking it to a notary is optional and it does not need registering: a private signature binds just the same from the day it is signed.