How do rental contracts and deposits work in Vietnam in 2026?

Articles 162 and 163 of the 2023 Housing Law require a housing contract in writing. It should identify the parties and property, describe the home and any associated land-use information, state price and payment method, set the handover and term, list rights and obligations, record commitments, and include the signing date and signatures.

Article 164 says notarisation or certification is not required for a housing lease unless the parties agree otherwise. A notary office is a licensed organisation that checks identity, capacity, documents, and the legality of a transaction it notarises. Optional notarisation can strengthen identity and document evidence, but it does not inspect mould, prove every appliance works, or guarantee future payment.

Use a Vietnamese-English lease and state which text controls. Match the current phường (urban ward) address after the 2025 local-government reorganisation. Old district names may remain familiar location labels, but they should not replace the current legal address.

Vietnam has no universal statutory cap of one or two months for an ordinary private residential deposit. One or two months is common market practice, while a longer lease or premium home may be quoted differently. The Civil Code treats a deposit as security for entering into or performing a contract and provides default consequences when one side refuses, unless the parties agree another result.

Separate the security deposit, booking payment, first rent, advance rent, and agent fee. For each amount, state who receives it, what it secures, when it becomes refundable, and whether it is credited to rent. Use VND (Vietnamese dong), a bank transfer with a clear purpose, and a signed receipt.

Write the notice period and every early-termination trigger. Cover landlord sale, building closure, visa or employment changes if negotiated, serious unrepaired defects, tenant breach, late payment, and any replacement-tenant route. Do not rely on a verbal promise that the deposit will be returned if you leave early.

Allocate structural work, appliance failure, air-conditioner servicing, pests, blocked drains, and damage caused by the tenant. Define ordinary wear so faded paint or an aging appliance is not silently treated as tenant damage. For a chung cư (apartment building), allocate phí quản lý (building management fee), motorbike parking, building fines, water, internet, and official-meter electricity. If electricity is resold at a landlord-set rate, put the rate and change method in writing.

Attach a signed inventory, dated photos, meter readings, key and access-card count, and existing-defect list. The return clause should set a specific deadline, bank account, inspection process, evidence for deductions, and treatment of final utility bills. At exit, request an itemised deduction statement and receipts rather than accepting one unexplained balance.

If negotiation fails, preserve the lease, ownership and authority checks, transfers, receipts, messages, condition evidence, repair requests, and handover record. The agreed clause may provide mediation, arbitration where legally available, or a competent Vietnamese court. Significant disputes need advice from an independent Vietnamese lawyer because forum and translation choices affect enforcement.