Lease contract checklist: what to check before you sign

What the lease must contain

Residential leases fall under the Zakon o najmu stanova (the Housing Lease Act). A lease must be in writing (Art. 4), and whatever the Act doesn't regulate is up to the parties (Art. 3), so the wording matters. The Act doesn't cover temporary accommodation (it names tourists and pupils) or service flats (Art. 27). Under Art. 5 a lease contains, in particular:

• The parties: one tenant, or exceptionally both spouses (Art. 4).
• The flat, which can include a garage, laundry room or similar space for a separate charge (Art. 2).
• The rent and how it's paid.
• The types of living costs and how they're paid.
• Who will live with you. An unnamed occupant staying over 30 days without permission is a ground for notice, unless they're a spouse, descendant, parent, dependant or carer (Art. 19).
• The term, fixed or open-ended, which decides the rules on notice and rent changes.
• Maintenance.
• Use of the building's shared parts and land (Art. 18).
• The handover.

The rent and when it can change

In an open-ended lease, the rent can't change in the first year. After that, either side can propose a new rent in writing; it can be agreed at up to 20% above the average freely agreed rentRent (najamnina)simplifiedWhat the tenant pays the landlord for the use of the flat. In market leases it's agreed freely; the lease and the law limit changes during the tenancy.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3., 6., 9. i 10., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary for a comparable flat in the same town or county (Art. 10).

The local authority's housing department provides the average-rent figures (Art. 11(1)). Art. 11(2) reads, in our translation: “If the newly proposed rent exceeds the amount in paragraph 1 of this Article, the tenant has the right, within 30 days of the newly proposed rent, to ask a court to determine it. Until the court decides, the tenant pays an advance on the rent equal to the agreed rent.”

The Act has no rent-change rule for fixed-term leases, but new terms for a renewal must be offered in writing at least 30 days before the end; if you don't accept within 15 days, you're taken to decline (Art. 25). So say in the lease whether the rent can change.

Term, renewal and notice

• A fixed-term lease renews tacitly for the same period unless either side says in writing, at least 30 days before it ends, that it won't renew (Art. 25). The Housing Lease Act doesn't cover leaving early, so agree it in the lease; the exceptions in the Obligations Act are in our guide to ending a lease.
• A tenant ends an open-ended lease with at least three months' notice (Art. 23).
• The landlord can give notice for use against the Act and the lease, such as unpaid rent or costs, unauthorised sublettingSubletting (podnajam)simplifiedWhen the tenant lets the flat, or part of it, to someone else. They need the landlord's consent; subletting without it is a ground for notice.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19. i 28., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, disturbing neighbours or non-residential use, after a written warning giving you 30 days to put it right, unless you've breached the lease or the Act more than twice (Art. 19).
• The landlord's notice is written and reasoned, delivered against your signature or by registered post, and runs three months from the first of the next month (Art. 22).
• In an open-ended lease, the landlord can also give six months' notice so that they, their descendants, parents or dependants can move in, but only after securing you another suitable flat on an open-ended lease (Arts. 21 and 22).

Deposit, earnest money and agency fees

DepositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: the Housing Lease Act doesn't mention one, so it sets no amount or cap. Record the amount, return terms and permitted deductions, and get a receipt. The landlord has a statutory lien on the tenant's belongings in the flat for unpaid rent and damage (Art. 15).

Earnest money (kapara)Earnest money (kapara)simplifiedMoney paid when a contract is made, as a sign that it has been concluded. It isn't a deposit, which secures rent and damage during the lease.Source: Zakon o obveznim odnosima, čl. 303. i 304., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary is not a deposit. Under the Obligations Act, unless agreed otherwise, paying kapara concludes the contract (Art. 303); if the payer is to blame for non-performance, the other side may keep it, and if the recipient is, the payer may claim double (Art. 304). Don't pay kapara before you've seen the flat and agreed every term.

Agency feesAgency fee (agencijska provizija)simplifiedThe fee for an agency's brokerage. Only someone who has signed a written brokerage contract with the agency pays it, as a rule once the lease is signed.Source: Zakon o posredovanju u prometu nekretnina (NN 69/2026), čl. 23., 28. i 29., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: under the Real Estate Brokerage Act, in force since 7 July 2026, an agency can charge you only under a written brokerage contract (Arts. 17 and 29), never in advance, and as a rule only once the lease is signed (Art. 29). Signing a viewing confirmation doesn't oblige you to pay (Art. 23).

Bills: who pays what

The Act doesn't say who pays which bill, only that the lease lists the costs and how they're paid (Art. 5). For each, note whether you pay it in your name or repay the landlord, by consumption or a fixed sum, and record meter readings at handover.

• Communal fee (komunalna naknada)Communal fee (komunalna naknada)simplifiedA public charge paid to the City for maintaining communal infrastructure, per m² of useful floor area. The owner pays it unless a written contract moves it to the tenant.Source: Zakon o komunalnom gospodarstvu (NN 68/18 … 145/24), čl. 93. i 94., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: the owner's, unless a written contract transfers it to the tenant (Communal Economy Act, Art. 93).
• Building reserve fund (pričuva)Reserve fund (pričuva)simplifiedMoney the co-owners pay each month to maintain the building's common parts and run it. The flat's owner owes it to the building, not the tenant.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 28. i 29., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: paid by the co-owners, so the flat's owner (Building Management and Maintenance Act, Art. 28). If you repay it, say so in the lease.

Our utilities guide explains each bill.

Condition, repairs and inventory

• The landlord hands over the flat fit to live in and keeps it so (Arts. 12 and 13).
• At handover, both sides draw up a record of the flat's condition (Art. 12); attach an inventory and dated photos. You return the flat as received, allowing for normal wear, unless agreed otherwise (Art. 17).
• The landlord pays for necessary repairs, which you must report. Alterations need prior written consent (Art. 14), sublettingSubletting (podnajam)simplifiedWhen the tenant lets the flat, or part of it, to someone else. They need the landlord's consent; subletting without it is a ground for notice.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19. i 28., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary consent (Art. 28).
• You must let the landlord in for necessary repairs and to check how the flat is used (Art. 16); the Act sets no notice periodNotice to end a lease (otkaz ugovora o najmu)simplifiedA statement by which landlord or tenant ends a lease. A tenant gives at least three months' notice on an open-ended lease; a landlord may only give notice on legal grounds.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19.–25., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, so agree one.
• Before letting, the owner must obtain an energy certificateEnergy certificate (energetski certifikat)simplifiedA document on the energy performance of a building or flat. Before letting, the owner must get one, show it to prospective tenants and hand over it or a copy.Source: Zakon o energetskoj učinkovitosti u zgradarstvu (NN 155/2025), čl. 13., 14. i 70., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, show it to you and give you the certificate or a copy (Building Energy Efficiency Act, Art. 14).

Certifying and reporting the lease

The Act requires writing (Art. 4), not a notary. A lease solemnisedSolemnisation (solemnizacija)simplifiedA notary confirms a contract: checks it, explains the consequences and gives it the force of a notarial deed. With an enforcement clause it becomes an enforcement title.Source: Zakon o javnom bilježništvu (NN 78/93 … 57/22), čl. 54. i 59., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary by a notary has the force of a notarial deed and, if it includes the obligor's consent to direct enforcement, can be enforced directly (Notaries Act, Arts. 54 and 59). Read any such clause before signing.

• The landlord sends the lease to Porezna uprava (the Tax Administration) within 8 days of the lease being made or the let starting (Income TaxIncome tax on rent (porez na dohodak)simplifiedThe tax a private landlord pays on rent: 12% of the rent less 30% for expenses, i.e. 8.4% of the rent. It's paid monthly under a Tax Administration decision.Source: Zakon o porezu na dohodak, čl. 57. i 62., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary Act, Art. 62), unless a notary certified the landlord's signature, solemnised the lease or drew it up as a notarial deed, in which case the notary does. The lease and every rent change also go to the City of Zagreb (Art. 26). Our reporting checklist has every step.
• If the tenant is a Croatian citizen, a landlord letting for over three months reports it to the police within 15 days, and the tenant registers their residence within 15 days, with the landlord's consent (Residence Act).
• Foreign tenants registering an address need a lease certified by a notary or Porezna uprava, or, for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, the owner's signature on the police form (guide for foreigners).

A draft new Housing Lease Act, presented in July 2026, would make every new lease a notarial deed or solemnised, with a depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary of one month's rent and 60 days' notice for tenants. As of October 2026 it hasn't been passed, so this guide describes the law in force.

The checklist before you sign

• The landlord is the registered owner or holds the owner's power of attorney (how to check).
• The flat: address, floor, size, rooms, storage or parking.
• The rent, due date and account.
• Every living cost: who pays and how.
• Everyone who will live there, by name.
• Start date and term: fixed (until when) or open-ended.
• Notice and leaving early.
• Whether, when and how the rent can change.
• DepositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary: amount, return terms and a receipt.
• With an agency: a signed brokerage contract, nothing paid in advance.
• A condition record with inventory, photos and meter readings, and the energy certificateEnergy certificate (energetski certifikat)simplifiedA document on the energy performance of a building or flat. Before letting, the owner must get one, show it to prospective tenants and hand over it or a copy.Source: Zakon o energetskoj učinkovitosti u zgradarstvu (NN 155/2025), čl. 13., 14. i 70., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary.
• Who reports the lease and, for a foreign tenant, what address registration needs.

Frequently asked questions