Eviction action in Portugal: how to evict a tenant

The tenant has stopped paying, or the contract has ended and they will not leave. Now what? In Portugal, evicting a tenant is a formal process, with its own rules and deadlines, and the difference between doing it well and doing it badly is measured in months of lost rent.

This guide explains, step by step, how the eviction action works in 2026: when to use the special eviction procedure (PED) at the BAS and when to go to court, the accepted grounds, how much it costs, how long it takes and how to avoid the mistakes that block it.

Note that the new rental regime approved in July proposes evictions from 2 months of arrears, but it is not yet in force: the current rule is 3 months.

Grounds for an eviction action

When can you evict a tenant? Only once the contract has ended: eviction is the consequence of the end of the contract, never a spontaneous act. The most common entry points are:

• Termination for non-payment: rent in arrears under the NRAU (Novo Regime do Arrendamento Urbano, the Urban Lease Regime), the most frequent case. Art. 1083 of the Civil Code allows termination with arrears of 3 months or more (para. 3) or with payments more than 8 days late more than 4 times in a 12-month period (para. 4);
• Opposition to renewal communicated within the deadline, with the tenant remaining in the property after the end of the term;
• Notice to terminate for own use or major works, once the legal requirements are met;
• Other breaches of the contract: unauthorised subletting, use other than agreed, works without consent, opposition to ordered works. Under art. 1083(2), the breach must be serious enough to make it unreasonable to keep the lease going, and it is the court that assesses it.

If the problem is recent rent arrears, start here: what to do in the first 30 days of non-payment. Acting early and in writing completely changes the outcome.

The BAS: the desk that replaced the court in most evictions

Since the rental reform, most evictions for breach do not go through a classic trial. They run at the BAS, the Balcão do Arrendatário e do Senhorio (Tenant and Landlord Desk, successor to the BNA), through the Procedimento Especial de Despejo (PED). It is a largely administrative procedure, designed to be faster than court.

Conditions of access that stop many landlords from the outset:

1. A written and valid contract;
2. A contract registered with the AT (Modelo 2 / contract report) with stamp duty paid. Without this, the BAS rejects the application. See how to register the contract with Finanças;
3. Prior communications correctly made: the termination letter for non-payment (or the opposition to renewal) must comply with the form and deadlines of the NRAU.

Eviction action or special eviction procedure (PED)?

In everyday language, “eviction action” (ação de despejo) means any process to evict a tenant. Strictly speaking, there are two routes: the PED, at the BAS, and the eviction action proper, in court. For non-payment, with a written and registered lease, the PED is almost always faster.

If the tenant lodges an objection to a PED, the case goes to a judge and continues as a court action. That is why the file should be prepared from the start as if it were going to court.

The stages of the process, in practice

Realistic total in 2026: a clean PED, with no objection, is typically resolved in a few months. With an objection, social incidents or flaws in the communications, it can drag on for more than a year. The variable the landlord controls is the quality of the file: impeccable contract, registration and letters.

For the full procedural detail, read our PED guide and how the BAS works.

How long an eviction action takes

Even on the fastest route, it takes months, not weeks. Arrears only become a ground for termination after 3 months; then comes the notice to the tenant, who can cure the arrears by paying everything within 1 month (once only), and only then the application to the BAS.

• PED with no objection: around 6 months from the first missed payment; the eviction order is issued a few weeks after the application.
• PED with an objection: the case goes to court and can reach 12 months or more.
• Common delays: a lease never reported to the Finanças, a defective termination letter, an out-of-date service address and August, when procedural deadlines are suspended.

The stage-by-stage timeline, with the legal deadlines for each step, is in how long an eviction takes in Portugal.

How much does an eviction action cost?

Between court fees, the enforcement agent, a possible lawyer, rent lost during the process, damage to the property and the time without a tenant, the real cost of a full default is, in most cases, between €5,400 and €10,800 for an average rent. We worked out the figures in detail in how much an eviction really costs, and it is this number that justifies investing in prevention.

The direct costs of the procedure are the smaller part of the bill:

The rest is the rent you do not receive while the process runs. Every month saved in preparing the file is a month of rent saved.

When to call a lawyer

The PED was designed so that landlords can file it without representation. But there are two moments when a lawyer stops being optional:

1. Serving termination for non-payment. It must be done by court notice (notificação judicial avulsa) or in person by a lawyer, solicitador or enforcement agent (art. 9(7) of the NRAU). A defective letter means the clock starts again.
2. The tenant’s objection. The case goes to court and, above the court’s value threshold (alçada), being represented by a lawyer becomes mandatory.

A consultation before you start is also worthwhile when the lease is verbal or unregistered, when there is a guarantor to recover the debt from, or when the ground is not non-payment.

Find a tenancy lawyer in your region: the request is free and up to 3 lawyers get back to you. There are dedicated pages for Lisbon, Porto, Setúbal and Faro and the Algarve.

The 5 mistakes that block evictions (and how to avoid them)

1. Contract not registered with the AT. The BAS does not accept the application. It is mistake no. 1 in Portugal, and it is fixed in 20 minutes on the Finanças Portal.
2. Poorly drafted termination letter. Without the right grounds, amounts and deadlines, the termination is invalid and the process goes back to square one.
3. Accepting partial payments without a strategy. Poorly documented partial payments can neutralise the arrears relied upon.
4. “Self-help”: changing the locks, cutting off water or electricity. Besides being a crime (breach of domicile / coercion), it destroys the landlord’s legal position.
5. Waiting too long. Each month of hesitation is rent lost that you will hardly recover: the likelihood of collecting debts from an insolvent tenant is low.

The real solution comes before the eviction

No landlord who has assessed the tenant properly, required adequate guarantees and signed a solid contract goes through the BAS often. Prevention has three layers:

• Choose well: run every applicant through the Tenant Solvency Calculator (free): income, rent-to-income ratio and default risk in minutes;
• Contract well: a contract compliant with the NRAU, generated in our Lease Agreement Generator;
• Protect the income: see what rent insurance covers and how it compares with a guarantor and a deposit.

Frequently asked questions about the eviction action

Before your next contract

Eviction is plan C. Plan A is choosing the tenant well; plan B is a contract that protects you. → Check your prospective tenant’s solvency for free before signing: it takes 2 minutes and can save you €10,000.