Rental deposits in Croatia: deductions, return and disputes

What the law says about deposits

The Housing Lease Act never uses the words pologDeposit (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, jamčevina or depozit, and the Obligations Act's general lease rules (Arts. 550–578) don't regulate a deposit either. What the law leaves out is agreed freely (Housing Lease Act, Art. 3(3)), so the lease decides how big the deposit is and how it comes back.

Even without a deposit, the landlord has a statutory lien on your belongings in the flat for unpaid rent and damage, and may keep them when you move out until the debt is paid (Housing Lease Act, Art. 15(2); Obligations Act, Art. 565). The basics of a lease are in our lease contract checklist.

A deposit is not kapara

KaparaEarnest 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 (earnest money) is paid when a contract is made, as a sign that it's concluded, and is returned or credited once the contract is performed (Obligations Act, Art. 303). If the payer is responsible for the contract failing, the recipient may keep it. If the recipient is responsible, the payer may claim double (Art. 304). Odustatnina, a fee for withdrawing from a contract, exists only if agreed (Arts. 306 and 307).

Whether money called kapara in a lease is kapara or 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 depends on the wording and the facts, and we don't summarise the court practice. So call it polog (deposit) in the lease, say what it's for, and don't pay kapara before a viewing (rental scams).

Before you pay a deposit

This is our practical advice. Of these steps, the law requires only the condition record.

1. 1Write into the lease the amount, what it covers, when it comes back and what may be deducted.
2. 2Pay by bank transfer with “pologDeposit (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” in the description, or get a signed receipt.
3. 3When you move in, sign a record of the flat's condition (Housing Lease Act, Art. 12(2)) with meter readings, an inventory and dated photos of every room. It's your evidence against any later deduction.
4. 4Keep your paid utility billsUtilities (režije)Housing costs on top of rent: electricity, gas or heating, water, waste, the reserve fund, the HRT licence fee and internet. The lease decides which the tenant pays.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 5., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary.
5. 5When you move out, sign a second record with new meter readings and photos, and note the day you hand back the keys.

What a landlord can deduct

You return the flat as you received it, allowing for ordinary use, unless agreed otherwise (Housing Lease Act, Art. 17). A tenant isn't liable for wear from regular use or for ageing (Obligations Act, Art. 566(2)). You are liable for damage caused by you or the people living with you, and household members are jointly liable (Housing Lease Act, Art. 15).

As we read it, a deduction from 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 is legally a set-off: the landlord sets a claim that's due, such as unpaid rent, bills or proven damage, against your claim to the deposit. Set-off works between two money claims that are both due, and only once one side declares it (Obligations Act, Arts. 195 and 196). Ordinary wear isn't a claim a landlord can deduct, unless the lease says otherwise. Ask for a written breakdown of what was deducted, how much and why.

When the deposit is due back

No law sets a deadline. Under the Obligations Act's general rule, if neither the contract nor a law sets a time and the nature of the obligation doesn't call for one, the creditor can demand performance at once (Art. 173). Whether a landlord may first wait for the final bills or inspect the flat isn't settled, so put a deadline in the lease, for example a number of days after you hand back the keys.

A landlord who pays it back late owes default interest. Outside commercial contracts, that's the reference rate plus three percentage points (Obligations Act, Art. 29). The landlord is late once the lease's deadline passes or, if there is none, once you ask for the 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, orally or in writing (Obligations Act, Art. 183).

If you don't get your deposit back: step by step

1. 1Gather your evidence: the lease, proof of payment, both condition records with photos, your paid bills and proof you handed back the keys.
2. 2Send a written demand with the amount, your account number and a payment deadline, by registered post or against a signature, and keep a copy. If the landlord claims a deduction, ask for a written breakdown. A first, short request can be put together in our move-out plan.
3. 3Propose mediation. Under the Mediation Act (NN 27/2026), parties should try to settle before suing where possible, and a party that sues after a failed mediation pays no court fee on the claim (Art. 13). Unless agreed otherwise, each side bears its own costs and mediation costs are split equally (Art. 33). The Nacionalni centar za medijaciju (National Mediation Centre) keeps the register of mediators (Arts. 6 and 8).
4. 4If you can't agree, the remaining step is a claim at the municipal court (Civil Procedure Act, Art. 34), in Zagreb the Općinski građanski sud u Zagrebu (for Novi Zagreb and Brezovica the Općinski sud u Novom Zagrebu, for Sesvete the Općinski sud u Sesvetama). A claim of up to €1,320 is a small-value dispute with a simplified procedure (Art. 458). The general limitation period is five years (Obligations Act, Art. 225), and as we read it, 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 refund is a one-off claim that it applies to.

The services listed at the end of this guide give free advice before you sue.

How big is a usual deposit?

No official source gives a typical 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 for private leases in Zagreb. Public programmes have their own rules, which don't apply to private leases but show how a deposit can be set up:

• The City of Zagreb's affordable-rent leases (call of 30 April 2026) require a deposit (jamčevina) of two months' rent, paid within 8 days of signing and returned at the end minus unpaid rent, bills and damage beyond regular use.
• APN's sample lease for the state affordable-rent programme asks for one month's rent plus a 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 promissory note for five months' rent. The deposit comes back if every obligation is met and there's no damage.
• The draft new Housing Lease Act would set a default deposit of one month's rent unless the lease says otherwise, with no return deadline (draft Art. 18). It hasn't been passed (our guide to the draft).

What the law doesn't say

The law sets no cap and no return deadline. It doesn't say whether kaparaEarnest 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 in a lease is kapara or 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, or whether a landlord may wait for the final bills.

Compulsory mediation is unclear too. The Mediation Act makes a mediation attempt compulsory only before some suits, including damages claims in small-value disputes, and only once the implementing rules are adopted (Arts. 14 and 38). Before a damages claim of up to €1,320, such as a landlord's, check whether those rules have been adopted.

The rules on set-off, the deadline and limitation above are general rules a court applies to the facts of each case, so they don't guarantee an outcome. How a lease ends is in our guide to ending a lease, and your rights during it in tenant rights.

Free legal help in Zagreb

• City of Zagreb, Sektor za besplatnu pravnu pomoć (free legal aid section), Zapoljska 1; 01 6100-300; Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:30–15:30, Tuesday and Thursday 8:30–18:00. Advice and help with out-of-court settlement are free if, among other conditions, you can't handle the matter alone and paying would endanger your upkeep. The section also decides on a state-paid lawyer, subject to a means test and only in the types of case the Act lists, otherwise by exception (Free Legal Aid Act, Arts. 9, 10, 13 and 14).
• Pravna klinika, the legal clinic of the Zagreb Faculty of Law, Palmotićeva 30; klinika@pravo.hr or the form at klinika.pravo.hr. Supervised students give free general legal information and advice, but don't represent clients in court.

When a tenant doesn't pay or won't leave, the owner's steps are in our guide to a tenant who doesn't pay or leave.

Frequently asked questions