What to check about a landlord before you pay
Last checked Published
CheckMyRental is an educational checklist, not legal advice and not a law firm. It cannot see your whole situation. Read your contract yourself and get professional help when a lot is at stake.
The short answer
This page checks nobody and rates no landlord. It lists what the official pages say a landlord has to give you and where you can look things up, so that you can tick off what you have done before you sign and pay. Nothing you tick is saved or sent.
Your checklist
Before you view the home
When you go to see a home, take a valid ID. Also take a copy of your ID to prevent identity fraud, for everyone who moves in with you, and cover your citizen service number (BSN) on it.
All companies and organisations in the Netherlands are in the Handelsregister of the Kamer van Koophandel (KVK). You can look up basic information, such as the KVK number and the trade name, for free. You can search by name, by street and house number or by postcode and house number. An extract, which you pay for, shows who the owner, director or authorised person is, the date of founding, the address and whether the company is bankrupt.
A landlord or agent who offers a home publicly must have a procedure against housing discrimination. The selection procedure is clear and known to the candidate, the selection criteria do not discriminate, and candidates who are turned down are told why someone else was chosen.
Volkshuisvesting Nederland: the national rules for landlords
Before you sign
If the landlord makes verbal agreements with you about the rent, the landlord must confirm them in writing. This applies to all rental agreements made from 1 July 2023.
Volkshuisvesting Nederland: the national rules for landlords
The landlord must inform you in writing about your general rights and duties for the home, to the extent they are not in the contract, about what you can take to the Huurcommissie or to the court, and about the landlord's contact details for questions. If a deposit is charged: its amount, when it is repaid and how. If service costs are charged: their amount and the full specification, every year. From 1 January 2024 the landlord must also give you the contact details of the municipal meldpunt. For a contract made since 1 July 2023 there is no transition period: you are to be informed straight away, for example in an attachment to the contract.
Volkshuisvesting Nederland: the national rules for landlords
A municipality can add a rental permit to the national rules: a general permit for certain kinds of homes in areas where the quality of living is under pressure, and a permit for renting accommodation to labour migrants. The municipal council decides in a rental ordinance. If a permit is required for the home, the landlord must apply for it from the municipality, and it is personal to the landlord. Housing corporations do not need one when a municipality chooses a permit system.
Before you pay
Since 9 October 2025, payment service providers in the euro area have to offer payee verification: the bank checks that the name of the recipient matches the IBAN you give, which helps prevent mistakes and scams. This service must be free of charge.
For contracts concluded from 1 July 2023 the deposit may be at most two months of base rent (rent without service costs).
Agents who work for the landlord cannot charge you agency fees, whoever pays them in the end. Fees may be disguised as administration, registration or contract costs.
If the landlord works with a letting agent, the landlord pays the agent's costs. The agent may not ask you for them as well. These costs are also called administration, contract or agent costs. If you hire an agent of your own to find a home, you pay that agent yourself.
The landlord may charge service costs, but only costs that were really incurred, so with no profit, and must give you a specified overview every year.
Volkshuisvesting Nederland: the national rules for landlords
If something is wrong
Since 1 January 2024 every municipality has a meldpunt for unwanted behaviour of landlords. You can go there, also anonymously, with questions or complaints, for example when the landlord gave you no written agreement or information, charged service or deposit costs wrongly, or discriminated against or intimidated you. A municipality that finds that a landlord or agent breaks the rules has to enforce them, for example with a fine. A report that is not about these rules, or that is about a housing corporation, can be passed on to the right organisation. An overview of the meldpunt per municipality is on the website of the VNG.
If you think you have been scammed, contact the Fraudehelpdesk.
Not sure the offer is real? Check the listing, and take the scam check. Take the scam check
Before you rely on this
This page checks nobody and says nothing about a landlord's character. It lists what the official pages say and where to look, and it does not know your landlord or your contract. It is not legal advice.
Your answers stay in your browser. We count that the tool was used, and nothing you type.
Official sources
The statements on this page come from these pages, which we last checked on 5 October 2026.
- Rijksoverheid: woning huren waarborgsom (checked 5 October 2026)
- Volkshuisvesting Nederland: waarborgsom (checked 5 October 2026)
- Rijksoverheid: moet ik bemiddelingskosten betalen voor een kamer of huurwoning (checked 5 October 2026)
- Juridisch Loket: bemiddelingskosten (checked 5 October 2026)
- Volkshuisvesting Nederland: regelgeving bemiddelingskosten (checked 5 October 2026)
- Rijksoverheid: regels voor verhuurders en verhuurbemiddelaars (checked 5 October 2026)
- Fraudehelpdesk: een dak boven je hoofd of van je centen beroofd (checked 11 October 2026)
- Volkshuisvesting Nederland: landelijke regels van goed verhuurderschap (checked 11 October 2026)
- Volkshuisvesting Nederland: verhuurbescherming (checked 11 October 2026)
- Volkshuisvesting Nederland: gemeentelijk meldpunt goed verhuurderschap (checked 11 October 2026)
- Kamer van Koophandel: uitleg over zoeken op kvknl (checked 11 October 2026)
- Kamer van Koophandel: check via uittreksel (checked 11 October 2026)
- Rijksoverheid: welke documenten moet ik meenemen als ik een woning ga bekijken (checked 11 October 2026)
- European Commission: new eu rules make instant euro payments faster and safer 2025 10 10 en (checked 11 October 2026)
What this page does not cover
This tool applies the rules in our rule pack and the official pages listed below to the answers you give. It does not know your contract or your whole situation, and it is not legal advice. For advice about your situation, see the box below.
Check your own contract
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When to talk to a lawyer or the Huurcommissie
- You are being evicted, your landlord has terminated the contract, or you got a court summons: contact a lawyer or Juridisch Loket today. Deadlines can be short.
- You already live there and think your starting rent is too high: the Huurcommissie can assess the starting rent. For regulated homes the request generally has to be made within 6 months of the start (Huurcommissie, checked 2026-10-05). Use the official Huurprijscheck first.
- Your deposit was not returned within 14 days (30 days when there are deductions), or the service-cost statement is missing: write to the landlord first, then ask Juridisch Loket or the Huurcommissie.
- An agent or landlord charged fees, discriminated, or intimidated you: report it to your municipality's Meldpunt Goed Verhuurderschap. Every municipality has one. Eindhoven: info@goedverhuurderschapeindhoven.nl, 085 11 55 587, Fridays 10:30-13:30 at TU/e Atlasgebouw (municipal page, 2026-10-05).
- The report says GREY or 'not covered', you are not sure whether an exception applies to you (student, room in the landlord's home, company let), or more than about 3,000 EUR is at stake: get a professional opinion before you sign.
- Free help: Juridisch Loket, 0800 8020, Monday to Friday 9:00-17:00 (English page, 2026-10-05; the page says personal advice is for people with a low income, so check eligibility). Huurteam Eindhoven (free, online consultation Wed 13:00-16:00, Thu 18:00-21:00, their page). Woonbond (membership, members can submit a contract to lawyers).