Renting a home in Mexico City: the lease rules

Where these rules come from

The tenancy rules in this guide are in the Mexico City civil code, in the chapter titled “Del arrendamiento de fincas urbanas destinadas a la Habitación”. Article 2448 states that the chapter’s provisions are “de orden público e interés social” and therefore “irrenunciables”: a clause that contradicts them is treated as not written. That matters in practice. A landlord’s standard form cannot take away the one-year minimum or the deposit limit, because the code makes them non-waivable.

The chapter was amended by a decree published in the city’s official gazette on 28 August 2024, which reformed article 2448 D (the rent cap) and added the registration duty to article 2448 F. The copy of the code on the Congress’s website, read on 15 October 2026, includes that decree. The chapter covers urban buildings let as a home. A lease of a shop or an office falls under the general lease provisions, not these.

The main rules, article by article

• Habitability (art. 2448 A). A premises that lacks the hygiene and health conditions needed to be lived in must not be let. Under art. 2448 B, a landlord who does not carry out works ordered by the authority to make it habitable, hygienic and safe is liable for the tenant’s damages.
• Minimum term (art. 2448 C). “Un año forzoso para arrendador y arrendatario”. The tenant may extend for up to one more year, as long as rent is paid up, unless the parties agreed otherwise. The one-year term is binding on both sides; the chapter read contains no early-exit right for the tenant, so read the termination clause of your contract.
• Currency and increases (art. 2448 D). Rent “deberá estipularse en moneda nacional” and “solo podrá ser aumentada anualmente”, by no more than the inflation Banxico reported for the previous year, applied to the agreed monthly rent. The guide on rent increases compares this with two other states.
• Payment and receipts (art. 2448 E). Rent is paid on the agreed dates and, absent an agreement, month by month in arrears. The landlord must give a receipt for each month. If no receipts are issued for more than three months, payment is deemed made, unless the landlord formally demanded it in time. The landlord “no podrá exigir … más de una mensualidad de renta a manera de depósito”. The Congress’s copy prints this article as “2428 (SIC) E”; the text sits between 2448 D and 2448 F.
• Written contract (art. 2448 F). The lease must be in writing and the lack of that form “se imputará al arrendador”. It must contain at least the names of the parties, the location, a detailed description of the property and its condition, the rent and where it is paid, the guarantee, the stated residential purpose, the term, any additional obligations, the deposit amount or the guarantor’s details, and the capacity in which the landlord signs.
• Death of a party (art. 2448 H). The lease does not end on the death of the landlord or the tenant. Certain relatives who actually lived in the home step into the tenant’s place.
• Right of first refusal (art. 2448 J). If the owner decides to sell, tenants who are up to date on rent have a right to be preferred. The owner must give formal notice of the price and terms, and the tenant has 30 days to accept in writing. A sale in breach of the article lets the tenant claim the purchase back, plus damages of at least 50 % of the rent paid in the previous 12 months.

Registration and the digital register

Article 2448 F provides for a “registro digital de contratos de arrendamiento, de autorización inmediata, a cargo del Gobierno de la Ciudad de México”, and the landlord must register contracts within 30 days of signing. The details are in the lease registration guide.

What a foreign tenant should know

Nothing in the chapter makes nationality or immigration status a condition of renting, and it sets no special rule for foreigners. Whether a landlord may ask for a passport or an immigration document is covered in renting as a foreigner in Mexico. The currency rule is worth noting if you are used to paying a landlord in US or Canadian dollars: the code requires the rent to be stipulated in pesos.

Which professional to consult

A real estate lawyer can read the contract against the code (real estate lawyer). A real estate agent handles the search; state or city licensing rules for agents differ and are described on the real estate agent page. For a dispute, the courts apply the procedure code in force in the city.