What tenant rights do renters have in Argentina in 2026?

Contracts must be written. Parties set the term freely within long maximums (twenty years for housing). If they forget a term on a permanent housing lease, the default is two years; other destinations default to three. Temporary leases without a term follow local custom. Rent may be set in pesos or foreign currency, and the tenant cannot force the landlord to accept a different currency than the contract names. Adjustment indexes are also freely chosen, with fallback rules if a chosen index stops publishing.

Deposit (fianza or depósito en garantía) amount and currency are freely agreed, and return follows what the contract says rather than an automatic one-month national cap from the repealed older law. Payment periodicity cannot be shorter than monthly. Official easy-law guidance states a tenant may leave early by paying 10% of the remaining rent; landlords must follow payment-demand steps before eviction paths for arrears. Always confirm the live text for your case: How to rent a home.

In Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Ley 5.859 still matters for many housing rentals: tenants should not pay agency gestoría honorarios that the city guide assigns to owners. National reforms did not erase that local consumer protection. Temporary furnished products and long unfurnished leases remain different markets: Furnished rentals and Renting in Buenos Aires.

Contracts signed under older national rental laws keep those rules for their life. Do not apply DNU 70/2023 logic to a 2022 lease without checking the signature date. Inventory photos, expensas clauses, and repair duties decide deposit fights: Condominium fees. Guarantor alternatives belong in the offer, not as a surprise at signing: Rent without a guarantor. Never pay before a verified viewing: Avoid rental scams.