Guide
RENTALS GUIDE · FLORIANÓPOLIS
Renting in Florianópolis: the Nomad Guide
How to find a home on the island without losing money to it: what every place on Nomad Floripa has to meet, the checklist before you pay anything, the scams, and your rights under Brazil’s tenancy law.
See the place before you pay anything. Check that the person renting it owns it or has the owner’s written OK. Sign a written contract with a condition report (vistoria), and pay only to the name on that contract. A deposit is at most three months’ rent, and a landlord can ask for one guarantee, never two.
ASK BEFORE YOU PAY
The Rentals group
Homes, rooms and people looking, on WhatsApp. Ask there before you pay for anything — someone may know the street, or the owner.
WHAT WE ALLOW
The Nomad Standard
A host agrees to all eight before posting, and Rikki reviews every place before it goes up on Nomad Floripa; a place that misses one is declined, and told which. A review isn’t a guarantee — check each point yourself before you pay.
You deal with the owner, someone the owner has said yes to in writing, or a licensed agent (corretor, with a CRECI number) holding the owner’s written authorisation to advertise it (Lei 6.530/1978, art. 20 III). Subletting needs the owner’s written consent (art. 13). Rikki asks for proof before a place goes up.
Recent photos of this home — not a show flat, not the building’s best unit, not another listing. Stolen photos are a common scam, so Rikki looks for them elsewhere online.
Rent, condomínio, IPTU, which bills are included and any deposit — in the listing, so the price you go to see is the price you pay.
No deposit, “reservation fee” or rent until you’ve seen the place, in person or on a live video call from inside it. Money first “to hold it” is the scam this rule stops.
A lease can ask for one guarantee — a deposit (caução), a guarantor (fiador) or rent insurance (seguro fiança) — never two (art. 37). A cash deposit is at most three months’ rent, and it comes back to you with its savings interest (art. 38 §2).
Signed by both of you, with a condition report (vistoria): every room’s state, in words and photos. Up to 90 days it’s a temporada, and rent may be paid up front (arts. 48–49); longer, rent is paid month by month, never months ahead (art. 20).
Every payment goes to the person or company named on the contract — check the name a Pix shows before you send it — and you get an itemised receipt for each one (art. 22 VI).
A speed test from inside the home, in Mbps — not the name of the plan. People here work online.
YOUR CHECKLIST
Before You Pay Anything
For any place, on this site or off it. In the order you’ll meet them.
In person, or on a live video call that walks through every room. Photos alone are not a viewing.
Anyone can order a property’s registry record (certidão de matrícula) online at ridigital.org.br. The owner’s name should be the person you deal with, or on their written OK. Some island houses have no record; then ask for an IPTU or electricity bill in the owner’s name.
A corretor (estate agent) gives you their CRECI number. Look it up on creci-sc.gov.br before you pay them anything.
Put two or three of the photos through a reverse image search (Google Lens). If they turn up on another listing, walk away.
Names, address, rent and the day it’s due, how long, the guarantee, the fine for leaving early, and who pays condomínio, IPTU and bills. If your Portuguese isn’t there yet, have it translated before you sign, not after.
Photos and video of every room, the meter readings, and anything broken — in the report, signed by you both, on the day you move in.
By Pix or bank transfer, to the owner or company named on the contract. Check the name a Pix shows before you confirm. Never through a link someone sends you.
The owner has to give you an itemised receipt for each payment (art. 22 VI). Keep them, and keep the WhatsApp messages.
WALK AWAY
Six Common Rental Scams
Almost every one asks for money before you’ve seen the place, or asks you to pay someone other than the owner.
A deposit by Pix before you’ve seen the place, because “three other people want it”. The place isn’t theirs, or doesn’t exist.
An owner who can’t meet you or show you round, but needs the money first.
Pictures copied from Airbnb, OLX or another listing, with a new phone number. A reverse image search finds them.
Far below what the neighbourhood costs — above all from December to March, when places near the beach cost the most.
A host who asks you to pay by Pix instead of through Airbnb or Booking, or sends a payment link that only looks like theirs. You lose the platform’s protection the moment you do.
A tenant renting the place on without the owner’s written consent (art. 13). The owner never agreed to you, and can end it.
THE LAW
Contracts and Your Rights
Brazil’s tenancy law (Lei do Inquilinato, Lei 8.245/1991) covers both kinds of rental. Articles below are from it unless another law is named.
| Temporada | Residential lease | |
|---|---|---|
| How long | Up to 90 days (art. 48) | Longer than 90 days — often 12 or 30 months |
| Rent up front | Allowed, all of it (art. 49) | No: month by month (art. 20) |
| Guarantee | One, if asked (art. 49) | One at most (art. 37) |
| Furnished | The contract lists the furniture and its state (art. 48) | The vistoria records it (art. 22 V) |
A cash deposit (caução) is at most three months’ rent. It goes into a savings account, and comes back to you with its interest (art. 38 §2).
A deposit, a guarantor (fiador), rent insurance (seguro fiança) or an investment-fund pledge — one of them. Asking for two is void, and an offence (arts. 37 and 43).
The owner pays the agency’s and the intermediary’s fees, including the checks on you and your guarantor (art. 22 VII).
The building’s running costs can be passed to you. Its extraordinary costs — works, painting the front, security systems — are the owner’s (art. 22 X).
By the index in the contract, and never more often than every twelve months (Lei 10.192/2001, art. 2 §1).
You can leave before the end by paying the contract’s fine, in proportion to the time left (art. 4). No fine if your employer transfers you and you give 30 days’ notice in writing.
Give it back as you got it, apart from normal wear (art. 23 III). The vistoria is how you both know what that was.
FLORIANÓPOLIS
Renting on the Island
What catches people out here, whatever the contract says.
Many island houses are let by the night in summer (December to March) and by the month from March to December. A place free “until December” is common; a whole year is harder to find, and costs more.
The island is humid. In winter, mould shows inside wardrobes, behind furniture and on bathroom ceilings — look there, and ask for a dehumidifier.
After heavy rain, some low streets flood. Ask the neighbours how the street was in the last storm.
Many beach neighbourhoods are a long bus ride from the centre. Check the bus to where you’ll be most days, or budget for a car or a scooter.
Ask which provider it is and whether it’s fibre, then for a speed test from inside the home.
Brazil’s tax number makes contracts, bills and Pix easier. Foreigners can apply at a Brazilian consulate or with the Receita Federal.
ON NOMAD FLORIPA
Places that meet all eight
Say what you’re after, or list your place. Rikki checks every place against the standard before it goes up.
FAQ
Questions and Answers
Can I rent without a CPF or a guarantor?
Yes. Many owners rent to foreigners with a deposit instead of a guarantor (fiador), who usually has to be a Brazilian who owns property. Every place on Nomad Floripa says whether it needs a CPF or a guarantor.
How much deposit can a landlord ask for?
Up to three months’ rent in cash (caução), and only if it is the one guarantee. It is kept in a savings account and comes back to you with its interest (Lei 8.245/1991, art. 38 §2).
Can a landlord ask for rent in advance?
For a temporada — up to 90 days — yes, all of it (art. 49). For a longer lease, no: rent is paid month by month (art. 20). When there is no guarantee at all, the owner can ask for each month’s rent by the sixth working day of that month (art. 42).
Is a month on Airbnb safer?
Paid through Airbnb, you have its rules and its refunds. The moment a host asks you to pay outside it, you lose them — and that is how many rental scams start.
What if the owner keeps my deposit?
The vistoria at move-in and move-out shows what is normal wear (art. 23 III). Ask for the deposit back in writing. If that fails, Brazil’s small claims court (Juizado Especial Cível) hears claims up to 40 minimum wages, without a lawyer up to 20 (Lei 9.099/1995).
Can I sublet my place or share it?
Only with the owner’s written OK (art. 13).
How do I list my place on Nomad Floripa?
Make sure it meets all eight points of the Nomad standard, then tap List a place on Rentals. Rikki checks every place before it goes up.
Does Nomad Floripa charge a fee or take a commission?
No. Rentals is free: hosts and renters deal with each other directly, and Nomad Floripa is not part of any rental — it doesn’t negotiate, show places, draw up contracts or handle money. If you want someone to act for you, hire a licensed estate agent (corretor, with a CRECI number).