Countries › Chile › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Leasing urban property in Chile (Ley Nº 18.101): scope, notice periods, fixed term leases, eviction procedure, the 2022 fast track monitorio claim for unpaid rent and early restitution

Leasing urban property in Chile (Ley Nº 18.101): scope, notice periods, fixed term leases, eviction procedure, the 2022 fast track monitorio claim for unpaid rent and early restitution

Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Stable

Leases of urban property are governed by Ley Nº 18.101 and, where silent, the Civil Code; tenants' rights under the law cannot be waived. A landlord ending a month to month or indefinite lease must give notice through a court or a notary, with two months plus one month per year of occupation up to six months, and a fixed term lease of up to one year ends only through a court claim with two months to vacate. Since 2022 landlords can use a monitorio procedure: the tenant has ten days to pay unpaid rent or object, failing which eviction is ordered.

USD figures use the Central Bank exchange rate of CLP 986.58 per US dollar published in the Diario Oficial for 23 October 2026 (CVE 2891564). UF figures use the SII value of CLP 41,221.08 for 26 October 2026, UTM figures the October 2026 value of CLP 72,151 and UTA figures the December 2025 value of CLP 834,504. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Minimum landlord notice for month to month or indefinite leases	2 monthsLey Nº 18.101 art. 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum landlord notice including one month per year of occupation	6 monthsLey Nº 18.101 art. 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Time to vacate after a restitution claim on a fixed term lease of up to one year	2 monthsLey Nº 18.101 art. 4, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Days for the tenant to pay or object in a monitorio claim	10 calendar daysLey Nº 18.101 art. 18 C, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum days to evict once the monitorio ruling is final	10 daysLey Nº 18.101 art. 18 C, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. Ley Nº 18.101 governs leases of urban real estate (within the urban limit) and leases of homes outside it with up to one hectare of land; the Civil Code applies to what it does not cover. It does not apply to rural plots over one hectare with agricultural, livestock or forestry use, fiscal property, furnished homes let for holidays or tourism for periods of up to three months, hotels and similar establishments, and other excluded cases. Tenants' rights under the law cannot be waived.Ley Nº 18.101, Fija normas especiales sobre arrendamiento de predios urbanos (Diario Oficial 29 January 1982), Art. 1, art. 2 and art. 19, 1982-01-29 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. In month to month and indefinite leases, the landlord's notice to end (desahucio) may only be given through the court or by personal notification by a notary; the notice period is two months from notification plus one month for each full year the tenant has occupied the property, up to six months in total. In fixed term leases of up to one year, the landlord can only seek restitution through the court and the tenant has two months from notification of the claim. In either case the tenant may leave earlier and pays rent only until restitution. In home leases for a fixed term over one year, the tenant may sublet unless forbidden, and if subletting is forbidden the tenant may end the lease early without paying the remaining rent.
Cost to do it: Notarial notification fees are set by each notary; court claims need a lawyer.
Example: A tenant who has occupied a month to month apartment for four years is entitled to two months plus four months, which reaches the six month maximum.Ley Nº 18.101, Art. 3, art. 4 and art. 5, 1982-01-29 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. Lease disputes follow a fast oral procedure: a hearing on the fifth business day after notification, the property address presumed to be the tenant's domicile, up to four witnesses per side and conciliation compulsory. At the landlord's request and on the merits of the hearing, the judge may order early restitution and eviction, with police assistance if needed, where the landlord claims termination because the tenant's action or neglect partly destroyed the property or made it unusable; it is enough to show a serious presumption of the right claimed, and the judge may require a bond. If the tenant abandons the property, the landlord may ask the judge to hand it over without a trial on a certificate of abandonment by a public official. Late payments between the parties are indexed to the UF.Ley Nº 18.101, as amended by Ley Nº 21.461 (Diario Oficial 30 June 2022), Art. 6, art. 7, art. 8 Nº 1 to 7 bis and art. 21, 2022-06-30 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Ley Nº 21.461 of 30 June 2022 added early restitution (art. 8 Nº 7 bis) and the monitorio claim for unpaid rent (art. 18 A to 18 K).

4. A landlord may file a monitorio claim for unpaid rent, common expenses and utilities with consequent restitution, attaching all supporting documents. If admissible, the judge orders the tenant to pay within ten calendar days, with interest and costs, and rules that if the tenant does not pay, appear or object, the tenant is held liable and eviction of all occupants follows within ten days of the ruling becoming final; that ruling has the force of a final judgment. A well founded objection ends the monitorio and the landlord must sue in the ordinary lease procedure, limited to the issues raised. Written leases must have the parties' signatures authorised by a notary, who must check the landlord's title; such leases are sufficient basis for the monitorio claim. Without a written lease, the rent is presumed to be the amount of at least three consecutive payments or, failing that, what the tenant declares.
Cost to do it: Court costs are awarded in the monitorio only as set in art. 18 C; legal fees are set by each firm.Ley Nº 18.101, as amended by Ley Nº 21.461, Art. 18 A to 18 K and art. 20, 2022-06-30 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Full years occupied	Notice
Less than 1	2 months
1	3 months
2	4 months
3	5 months
4 or more	6 months (cap)

Landlord notice for month to month or indefinite leases (Ley Nº 18.101 art. 3)

Worked example

A foreign owned company leases an apartment to a tenant who stops paying three months of rent. With a lease whose signatures were notarised, it files a monitorio claim; the tenant is required to pay within ten calendar days and, if it neither pays nor objects, the court orders eviction within ten days of the ruling becoming final.

Step by step

Sign leases in writing and have the signatures authorised by a notary, which enables the monitorio procedure.
Set rent and guarantees in UF if you want indexation; late payments are UF indexed by law in any case.
Give notice to end month to month leases only through a notary or the court, and count the extra month per year of occupation.
For unpaid rent, use the monitorio claim; for damage to the property, ask for early restitution under art. 8 Nº 7 bis.

Common traps

A notice by letter or email does not start the statutory period; it must be judicial or notarial.
Tenants' statutory rights cannot be waived in the contract.
Short holiday lets of furnished homes are outside Ley Nº 18.101 but may be VAT taxable (see real-estate/vat-on-real-estate).
Early restitution under art. 8 Nº 7 bis is for damage to the property, not for simple non payment, which goes through the monitorio.

Sources

← Tax on rental income from Chilean property: individuals, companies, non resident landlords, DFL Nº 2 homes and the new 5 percent single tax from 2027Condominiums in Chile (Ley Nº 21.442 de Copropiedad Inmobiliaria): ownership of units, condominium rules, common expenses and the debt that follows the unit, reserve fund, utility cuts, short stays and registered administrators →