Renting Out Your Property in Croatia

Renting out your property in Croatia for the long term, a flat let for a year or more or a house kept for later, makes the owner a najmodavac (landlord) with duties toward the tenant and the tax office. This page is about renting out a property in Croatia as a landlord, letting a flat while living abroad and the landlord's side of the lease. In Croatian the phrase is davanje stana u najam. Some older lists and lawyer pages call this service “Property Lease Drafting Service”. Short stays for tourists are a different regime with a permit of their own: tourist rental licence and registration.

Before the first tenant

• The paperwork of the flat: the owner is registered in the land register, the building is lawful and there is an energy certificate.
• The contract: a written lease, best in Croatian and English, with a clear deposit clause and a handover record; or a notarised lease (solemnizacija), which makes it easier to enforce unpaid rent or a move-out.
• Tax: rental income is taxed in Croatia and the letting is reported to the tax office (Porezna uprava); the owner needs an OIB. How this works for a non-resident, and under a tax treaty, is for a lawyer or tax adviser to confirm.
• The building: building charges and the reserve fund (pričuva) stay with the owner unless the lease says otherwise.

Letting from abroad

An owner who lives in another country usually needs someone on the spot: an agency for viewings and keys, and a lawyer for the contract, the formal notices and, if it comes to that, the court. A power of attorney lets the lawyer sign and act.

What a lawyer does

A lawyer drafts the lease or reviews the agency's draft, explains the landlord's obligations, arranges the notary, deals with the tax registration together with an accountant and steps in when a tenant stops paying. For the contract work in detail see lease and rental contract review; when a tenant has to leave, see tenant eviction.

Questions and answers

Long-term letting or tourist letting: what is the difference?

Letting a home to a tenant under a lease is ordinary renting. Offering it to tourists by the night is a hospitality service that needs a permit and a star category, with separate taxes.

Is the rental reported to the tax office?

Yes, rental income is reported and taxed. The timing and the forms depend on how the letting is set up; a lawyer or accountant confirms them.

Can the landlord ask for a deposit?

Yes. The deposit is agreed in the contract, together with the cases in which it may be kept.

What if the tenant stops paying?

The landlord cannot change the locks. With a notarised lease the landlord can apply for enforcement; otherwise a court claim comes first.