key: deposit title: "Deposit, security deposit, advance: which one are you paying?" description: "Three words used as if they meant the same thing. They do not. How much to pay, when it comes back, and what to do if it does not." category: contratti order: 2 updated: 2026-09-28
“I need a deposit to hold the room for you.” It is the sentence you will hear most often, and it is also where most scams happen. The trouble is that in Italian cauzione, caparra and acconto get used as if they were interchangeable, and they are not.
This is not legal advice: it is a practical explanation of what you are signing.
The three words
Cauzione (security deposit). The sum you leave with the landlord as a guarantee against damage, returned at the end of the tenancy. This is the normal one, provided for by law, and it is usually one to three months' rent. It is written into the contract.
Caparra confirmatoria (earnest deposit). A sum paid before the contract, guaranteeing that the agreement will go ahead. It carries a heavy consequence: if you pull out, you lose it; if the landlord pulls out, they owe you double. It is governed by Article 1385 of the Italian Civil Code.
Acconto (advance). Simply a payment on account of what you will owe. If the deal falls through, it comes back. It is the least risky form for you, which is why almost nobody offers it.
If you pay anything before signing, get it written down which of the three it is. A piece of paper saying “acconto” and one saying “caparra confirmatoria” are worth very different things when something goes wrong.
What is normal to pay
In Pavia, for a room in a shared flat:
| Item | How much |
|---|---|
| Security deposit | 1–3 months, usually 2 |
| First month | paid in advance, on signature |
| Contract registration | the landlord's cost, often split by agreement |
A deposit of more than three months is outside normal practice and a sign something is off. If they ask for four, ask why.
When it comes back
At the end of the tenancy, once the landlord has checked the state of the room. The contract should say within how many days: if it does not, ask for that to be added before you sign.
Deductions can be made for damage, not for normal wear. A scuff on the wall after ten months is wear. A hole in the door is damage. In practice, photographs decide which is which.
Photos are your insurance
On the day you move in, before you bring your things:
- Photograph every room you will use, including the shared ones.
- Photograph close up anything already damaged: stains, cracks, chipped furniture, appliances that do not work.
- Check the photos carry a date in their metadata (phones always add one).
- Email them to yourself, or better to the landlord, saying “condition of the room on date X”. That creates a date you did not set yourself.
It costs ten minutes and is worth hundreds of euros in June. It is the single most useful piece of advice in this guide.
Better still: ask to attach a verbale di consegna to the contract — a handover record signed by both sides listing the condition of the property. Many landlords are happy to, because it protects them too.
The deposit is not the last month's rent
This is the most common mistake and the one that ends worst. In May people stop paying, thinking “I gave two months' deposit anyway”.
Formally they are two different things: the rent is a debt you owe, the deposit is a guarantee you gave. Stopping payment puts you in arrears, and the landlord can keep the deposit and still claim the unpaid months.
If you want to offset one against the other, agree it in writing first.
If they do not give it back
- Ask in writing, not verbally. An email or WhatsApp message is enough to create a record.
- If there is no answer, send a registered letter or certified email, stating the sum, the contract and a deadline (fifteen days is reasonable).
- If still nothing, you can turn to a tenants' union — in Pavia there are SUNIA, SICET and UNIAT desks — or consider a payment order through the courts. For the sums involved, the letter is usually enough.
Always keep proof of payment: without a record of the transfers, proving you paid the deposit becomes hard.
What never to do
- Pay before seeing the place. Read the guide on scams.
- Pay in cash with no receipt.
- Pay onto a prepaid card, by Western Union, in cryptocurrency, or to a name other than the one on the contract.
- Sign something saying “caparra” without understanding that you lose it if you change your mind.
In short
- Get it in writing which sum you are paying.
- Two months' deposit is normal, four is not.
- Take photos on day one. Always.
- You still pay the last month.
- Traceable transfer, receipt, and never before the viewing.