The payment of condominium expenses (accessory charges) is usually made through periodic advance payments, to be paid together with the rent as specified in the contract. This is a prepayment based on estimated expenses at the beginning of the year. Since these are provisional estimates, at the end of the year the landlord must provide the tenant with a final accounting of the actual expenses incurred. The landlord may then request payment of any outstanding balance or refund any excess amount collected.

In some cases, condominium expenses are artificially inflated by the landlord, who demands a flat-rate amount without providing accounts or supporting documentation. This practice circumvents the limits imposed on both regulated and free-market rental agreements, as outlined in Articles 9 and 10 of Law 392/1978. This allows the landlord to illegitimately collect a higher sum. Essentially, part of the rent is “disguised” as condominium expenses, enabling the landlord to receive more money while formally keeping the rental price (regulated or free-market) lower and benefiting from undeserved tax advantages. This is achieved by misreporting amounts collected as condominium expenses.

This is not only ethically questionable but also constitutes a form of tax evasion and a violation of the law, punishable under Article 13 of Law 431/1998. Tenants should always exercise their right to request details and justifications for expenses. As established by the Equo Canone Law and the contract templates annexed to Ministerial Decree of January 16, 2017, tenants are entitled to receive a specific breakdown of shared expenses and the criteria used for their allocation. Additionally, they have the right to review the supporting documents for the expenses incurred.

The security deposit is a sum of money paid by the student tenant to the landlord at the beginning of the lease agreement. It serves as security for the landlord against possible damage to the property, unpaid rent, or other contractual breaches.
It is not a payment, but a guarantee that must be returned at the end of the contract. The landlord is still required to declare the security deposit for tax purposes. For the landlord, the deposited amount is not considered taxable income unless it is appropriated at the end of the lease.
Italian law stipulates that the security deposit cannot exceed an amount equivalent to three months’ rent. The deposit must be held by the landlord for the entire duration of the contract to ensure its availability when returned. In fact, at the end of the lease agreement, the security deposit must be returned to the tenant. The amount paid as a deposit earns interest at the legal rate.

At the end of the lease relationship, there are four possible scenarios:

1. The landlord fulfills their obligation and returns the security deposit. It is always preferable for both the landlord and tenant to conclude their relationship with a return report, in which they specify and acknowledge the good condition of the rented property.
2. The landlord and tenant reach a written agreement, either out of court or during a mediation or reconciliation, regarding damages or other contractual breaches, allowing the landlord to retain all or part of the security deposit as compensation.
3. The landlord claims a contractual breach, but no agreement can be reached. The landlord has the right to temporarily withhold the deposit, provided they immediately file a legal claim to determine the damages caused by the tenant or any unpaid rent.
4. The landlord claims a contractual breach, but not only is no agreement reached, the landlord decides to arbitrarily and unilaterally withhold the security deposit without filing a legal claim. This behavior is unlawful and represents one of the most common forms of abuse by landlords. In this case, the tenant can request the return of the security deposit by applying for an injunction, a faster and simpler procedure than the ordinary legal process.

Sometimes, landlords make students sign contracts that should be at a regulated fee (e.g., transitional contracts, contracts for students, or contracts with a duration of less than 4 years) at free market prices. Only contracts that have a duration of 4 + 4 years can be rented at free market prices. You can check the agreed rent prices by area on the Milano Abitare website. Unfortunately, the site is only available in Italian, but you can use an automatic translator to navigate the tools.

Another issue concerns the discrimination applied by landlords on the basis of nationality, ethnicity, religion or gender. In particular, foreign students coming from countries of the Global South often encounter discrimination in the rental market. The landlord might ask for excessive documentation (like ‘fideiussione’ or italian bank certification) to discourage the student from renting the apartment or simply give priority to national students. Unfortunately, the legal situation is unclear and differs from one case to another. Regardless of differing opinions, landlords cannot explicitly convey discriminatory messages when advertising a property (e.g., “renting only to females”, “renting only to Italians”).

It’s a common practice in a lease takeover—the process where a new tenant assumes the lease agreement from the previous tenant, taking over their rights and responsibilities under the same terms of the rental contract—for the new tenant to send the deposit directly to the previous tenant instead of the landlord. This typically occurs in shared apartments where the lease is for the entire apartment rather than individual rooms. Tenants sign the contract together and split the deposit, but one of them may need to move out before the end of the lease term. In such cases, the lease takeover is the best solution to avoid canceling the agreement and signing a new contract.

In any case, the landlord should return part of the deposit to the previous tenant and request your portion of the deposit, confirming receipt of your payment and stating that the same terms outlined in the original contract still apply.