When a tenant stops paying rent in Portugal, from arrears to eviction

Portuguese law gives you a clear but slow path. You can claim a 20% indemnity on late rent; once three months' rent is owed you can terminate the lease by formal notice; if the tenant neither pays nor leaves, you apply for eviction through the Balcão do Arrendatário e do Senhorio (BAS, the national landlord and tenant desk). Official figures put the average eviction procedure at about ten months, and that clock only starts after the arrears have built up. Under no circumstances should you change the locks or cut off the utilities yourself.

What the law allows in the first weeks

• The first 8 days. If the tenant pays within 8 days of the due date, you have no further claim (Civil Code art. 1041(2)).
• After 8 days, the 20% indemnity. You may demand the overdue rent plus an indemnity of 20% of the amount owed (art. 1041(1)). This was 50% until Lei 13/2019. The indemnity is not due if you terminate the lease for non-payment.
• Talk first, in writing. A written reminder, then a written payment plan if one is realistic, costs nothing and keeps your evidence tidy. Accepting later rent does not cancel your rights over the earlier arrears (art. 1041).
• Guarantor: notify within 90 days. If the lease has a fiador (personal guarantor), you must notify the guarantor of the arrears and the amounts owed within 90 days after the 8-day period ends. If you miss that window, you cannot claim from the guarantor (art. 1041(5) and (6)).
• Receipts. Issue an electronic rent receipt only for rent you actually receive, and date it on the day you received it.

When you can end the lease for non-payment

The Civil Code gives two grounds linked to rent (art. 1083):

1. Arrears of three months or more. Unpaid rent, charges or expenses that the tenant is responsible for (art. 1083(3)).
2. Repeated lateness. Rent paid more than 8 days late, more than four times in 12 months. This ground only works if you sent a registered letter after the third late payment, saying you intend to end the lease on this ground (art. 1083(4) and (6)).

On either ground, the lease ends by a written communication to the tenant that sets out the obligation the tenant has broken (art. 1084(2)). You do not need a court for this step.

The one-month cure. If you terminate for arrears, the termination has no effect if the tenant pays everything owed within one month. A tenant can use this cure only once per lease (art. 1084(3) and (4)).

Do not wait too long. The right to terminate is subject to time limits (art. 1085). Get advice once arrears reach three months; do not let them run for a year.

Serving the notice correctly

This is where do-it-yourself attempts often go wrong: an ordinary registered letter is frequently not enough. Under NRAU art. 9(7), the notice must be given by one of these:

• a notificação avulsa (a notice served through the court);
• personal delivery by a lawyer, solicitor or agente de execução (enforcement agent) instructed by you, with the tenant signing the original;
• a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, but only if the written lease contains an agreed address for notices (domicílio convencionado).

Without an agreed address, a refused or uncollected letter is not treated as received (NRAU art. 10(2)(b)). If service fails, you may still start the eviction procedure (art. 15(4)); the tenant can then cure the arrears within the opposition deadline. For future leases, include an address-for-notices clause.

How the BAS eviction procedure works

The procedimento especial de despejo (PED, special eviction procedure) has been handled by the BAS since February 2024 (Lei 56/2023 and Portaria 49/2024).

What you need

• A written lease.
• Proof that stamp duty was paid on the lease, or that the rent was declared for income tax. The declaration route requires the IRS (or IRC) assessments for the last four years, unless the lease is more recent (NRAU art. 15(5) and 15-B(2)(h)). An unregistered lease shuts you out of this route.
• Proof that the termination notice was served.

Steps

1. File the application on the official form, online at the BAS (Citizen Card or Chave Móvel Digital login) or on paper. You may file it yourself. Add a claim for the unpaid rent, provided you told the tenant the amount owed (art. 15(6)).
2. Pay the fee. The justice fee is €25.50 if the procedure's value is up to €30,000, and €51 above that. The value is 2.5 years' rent plus the arrears.
3. The tenant is notified. The BAS notifies the tenant by registered letter. The tenant then has 15 days to leave (and pay, if you claimed the rent), to oppose, or to ask for the move-out to be deferred (art. 15-D).
4. If there is no opposition, the file goes straight to a judge for an order authorising immediate entry into the home (art. 15-EA). The same happens if the tenant stops paying the rent that falls due while the procedure runs (art. 15(10)).
5. The property is handed back. An agente de execução or notary takes possession, with police help if a door has to be opened. This can happen only between 7:00 and 21:00 (art. 15-J).

If the tenant is vulnerable. The BAS automatically checks whether the tenant receives benefits such as unemployment benefit or the social integration income and, if so, refers the case to the local council (Portaria 50/2024). The tenant may ask for the move-out to be suspended (for example, for acute illness) or deferred for up to five months; where deferral is granted for lack of means, a Social Security fund is to pay you the rent for that period (Code of Civil Procedure arts. 863 to 865).

What happens if the tenant opposes, and the court route

• Conditions for opposing. The tenant needs a lawyer and, for arrears or repeated lateness, must pay the court fee plus a deposit equal to the arrears, up to six months' rent, unless on legal aid. Otherwise the opposition counts as not filed (NRAU art. 15-F(5) and (6), 15-S(3)).
• In court. The case goes to the local court, and you also need a lawyer. The hearing should take place within 20 days; if the opposition fails, the tenant must hand over the property within 30 days (art. 15-I). Legal-aid requests and court backlogs often stretch these periods.
• The rent. A judgment that also orders payment of the arrears can be enforced directly (art. 15-J(5)). Getting the money depends on the tenant having income or assets.

A limited state guarantee. Under NRAU art. 15-LA (added by Lei 56/2023), if you claimed the rent in a residential eviction for arrears and the tenant neither cures nor leaves, the State (IHRU) pays the rents falling due after the opposition deadline, capped at 1.5 times the minimum wage a month and nine times in total. It is little used: 185 cases and €571,200 paid up to July 2026.

How long it takes and what it costs

In practice

• BAS data reported in September 2026 put the average procedure at 293 days (about 10 months).
• Add the arrears and notice period before you can file, and a year or more from the first missed rent to getting the keys back is common, longer if the case is contested or deferred.
• The BAS received 2,530 eviction applications in 2025. Arrears were the most common ground.

Costs. The BAS fee is small; the real cost is the lawyer, enforcement agent and locksmith, privately priced and much higher if contested. Get a written quote first.

The court route. You need an ordinary eviction action (ação de despejo) in court when the BAS route is not available. That covers leases that are not in writing or not taxed, and grounds that require a court decision, such as serious nuisance or unauthorised subletting (art. 1083(2) and 1084(1)). To recover money only, the lease plus proof that you told the tenant the amount owed is already an enforceable title (NRAU art. 14-A).

Deposit, guarantor or insurance, and screening

Read insurance wording carefully. Some "rent protection" products insure the tenant against job loss or illness rather than you against non-payment, and "loss of rent" cover in a home policy usually applies only after damage such as fire or flood. Whether a guarantor may be combined with a two-month deposit has been debated; most practitioners say yes, but confirm when drafting the lease.

Prevention: screening and a solid lease

• Ask for proof of identity and income (recent payslips, an employment contract or the latest tax assessment) and a previous landlord's reference.
• Under the GDPR (EU data protection rules), collect only what you need, keep it secure, and delete the data of unsuccessful applicants.
• Many landlords aim for rent of no more than about a third of the household's net income. This is a rule of thumb, not a legal rule.
• Register the lease with the tax office and pay the stamp duty. Without that, the BAS route is closed to you.
• Put in the lease the address for notices, any guarantor, and the deposit.
• Act early: send a reminder after 8 days, and notify the guarantor well within 90 days.

The 2026 reform: approved in principle, not yet law

On 30 September 2026, Parliament approved the Government's bill revising the NRAU in its general vote (PSD, IL and CDS-PP for, Chega abstaining, the left against). It now goes to committee, where Chega has secured four changes, including distinguishing deliberate non-payment from genuine inability to pay and limiting deposits and advance rents. A final vote and publication are still needed. Until then, everything above still applies.

As published, the bill would:

• allow termination after 2 months of arrears instead of 3;
• treat payment more than 8 days late as a ground when it happens more than three times in 12 months, or more than four times in 18 months;
• let the first court decision lead directly to the eviction, without a separate enforcement stage;
• allow up to 3 months' advance rent and remove the cap on deposits;
• raise the state rent guarantee to 2.5 times the minimum wage a month (€2,300 in 2026);
• create an emergency fund for evicted households.

Any of these may change before the final vote.

Checklist

• Day 9: written reminder; record the 20% indemnity if you are keeping the lease
• Before day 90 after the 8-day period: notify the guarantor of the arrears and amounts
• 3 months' arrears: instruct a lawyer or solicitor; serve the termination notice correctly
• One month later, still unpaid: file at the BAS, adding the rent claim
• Keep copies of the lease, stamp duty proof, receipts, letters and bank statements
• Never change the locks, remove belongings or cut off the utilities yourself
• After you get the property back: record the end of the lease on Portal das Finanças