How the money works
The long version, because this is the part that matters.
You are sending five figures to people you met on the internet, for a home in a country you may not have landed in yet. Every sentence below exists because someone reasonably refused to do that until they understood where the money sits.
The order things happen in
The ordering is the protection. The landlord is not paid until you are holding keys that turn, and the deposit does not sit with the landlord at all.
-
01
You pay the escrow agent. Not us, not the landlord.
The deposit and the first rent tranche go to a licensed third-party escrow agent. Keyhold never holds your money, and cannot move it on its own.
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02
The landlord signs, and you get the keys.
From the moment you have the keys you have 72 hours to tell us anything is wrong — the unit, the building, the paperwork, the key itself.
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03
After 72 quiet hours, the rent is released.
Escrow pays the landlord the rent tranche. Your deposit does not move: it stays in escrow for the whole term, in your name.
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04
At the end of the term, the deposit comes back.
Within 10 business days of the final inspection, less anything both sides have agreed in writing or an inspection has found.
- Our fee
- 22%
- If something is wrong
- 72 h
- Deposit returned within
- 10 days
Of the rent for the term — already inside every price on this site. Nothing is added at the end.
From key handover to report a problem. Until that window closes, escrow has not paid the landlord. That ordering is the whole protection.
Business days, after the final inspection. Held by a licensed third-party escrow agent for the whole term — never by us.
A worked example
Six months in the Lisbon sample listing, at $4,900 a month. This is the entire arithmetic — there is no line we have not shown you.
| Rent, 6 months at $4,900 | $29,400 |
| Our fee — 22%, already inside the $4,900 monthly price | included |
| Refundable deposit, two months, held in escrow | $9,800 |
| Agency admin, cleaning, key, “processing” fees | none |
| Into escrow before you fly | $39,200 |
Of that, $9,800 is yours and comes back. The rest is rent the landlord earns month by month, and our fee, which we have already told you about twice.
Refunds, in plain language
| Outcome | When | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Everything back | The landlord pulls out before you get the keys. | Everything comes back, including our fee. We failed to deliver the thing you paid us for. |
| Everything back | The unit is materially not what the listing said. | Report it inside the 72-hour window and escrow has not paid the landlord yet. Rent, deposit, and our fee are returned. |
| Everything back | You end the term normally and the unit is as you found it. | The full deposit is returned within 10 business days. Fair wear and tear is not damage. |
| Partly back | You cancel after the landlord has signed. | The rent tranche is returned minus the landlord’s contractual cancellation share. Our fee is not returned — the work was done. |
| Not back | An inspection finds damage beyond fair wear. | The landlord is paid from the deposit, up to the assessed amount. You get the itemised assessment, and the rest back. |
| Not back | Rent is unpaid at the end of the term. | The deposit covers the arrears first. Anything left over is returned to you. |
Both of the “not back” rows are on this page on purpose. A refund policy that only lists the happy outcomes is an advertisement, not a policy.
When it goes wrong
The key doesn’t work
Call Nadia Rehm on +971 4 512 8830. Inside the 72-hour window, escrow has not paid the landlord, so the leverage is still on your side of the table. That is deliberate.
The landlord defaults mid-term
If the unit becomes unavailable through no fault of yours, unreleased rent is returned from escrow and your deposit comes back in full. We rehouse you where we can — we cannot promise a replacement in the same building, and we will not pretend otherwise.
You and the landlord disagree
Escrow holds the disputed amount and releases nothing while it is contested. The lease names the governing law and the venue; the escrow agent follows that, not us, and not the landlord. We are a party to the lease, not the judge of it.
General notes — read before you transfer anything
Risk & terms
What Keyhold is, and what it is not.
- We are a brokerage, not a bank.
- Keyhold is not a bank, not an escrow agent, and not a licensed financial institution. It does not hold client money at any point. Deposits are held by a licensed third-party escrow agent, whose name, licence number and jurisdiction are written into the escrow agreement — ask for it before you send anything, and read it.
- A booking is not a guaranteed tenancy.
- Landlords can decline, and sometimes do. Nothing on this site is an offer, and an enquiry creates no obligation on either side until a lease is signed.
- Paying in crypto moves the rate risk to you.
- We quote and settle in USD. If you pay in crypto, conversion happens at the rate when funds arrive, a 1.5% conversion spread applies and is itemised on the invoice, and the rate can move against you between quote and transfer. That movement is yours, in both directions.
- We verify identity. Always.
- Passport and a video call on every tenant, and source of funds above $25,000. We skip landlord paperwork, not identity checks — and we would not be able to hold a deposit in escrow if we did.
Still want to read the actual lease first?
Reasonable. Ask and we send the template and the escrow agreement before you send a cent, not after.
No form, no email capture. If you would rather write, nadia@keyhold.rentals.