Immigrants take out loans to pay six months' rent as a deposit. By law, a deposit is capped at two months' rent
Immigrants are increasingly taking out loans to cover everyday costs such as food and rent, and risk running up more debt than they can repay, Carla Dourado, a lawyer in the financial protection department of the consumer protection association DECO, told the Lusa news agency. “People often tell us they took out a loan to pay a six-month deposit,” she said. It is hardest for those who have only just arrived and cannot find a guarantor (Observador).
Under the Civil Code, a rental deposit (caução) cannot exceed two months' rent. Rent can be paid no more than two months in advance, and only if this is agreed in writing (Código Civil, article 1076).
The government's rental bill, now before parliament, would remove the cap on deposits and allow rent to be paid three months in advance. The Socialists (PS) want to keep the current limits (ECO).
Prices are rising for everyone, but immigrant associations say immigrants are harder hit: they are more likely to work without a contract and they earn less. Housing is their biggest worry, says Cyntia de Paula, vice-president of Casa do Brasil de Lisboa (an association of Brazilians in Lisbon): on top of high rents, they are asked for several months' rent in advance, a large deposit and a guarantor (fiador) — more than Portuguese tenants are asked for. As a result, many Brazilians are leaving Lisbon and Porto for Braga, Aveiro and Leiria, where the cost of living is lower. Some are going home — not only because of prices, but also because they cannot get their papers sorted.
Another problem, according to DECO, is that getting diplomas recognised takes a long time, so qualified people take jobs below their level for less money. An association of people from Guinea-Bissau used to see 20–25 people a day asking for help; now it sees almost twice as many. In Amadora, families from Cape Verde collect food parcels at a nursery school in the Casal da Mira neighbourhood (Observador).
