Can a landlord refuse a bank guarantee?

No. In Wallonia the choice of deposit form belongs to the tenant among the legal options, so a landlord cannot refuse a lawful progressive bank guarantee or force the tenant to hand over cash into the landlord’s own account. The landlord’s cover is identical whichever legal form is used.

Under the decree of 15 March 2018, the deposit can take one of three lawful forms: an individualised blocked account, a bank guarantee built up in monthly instalments, or a bank guarantee arranged through a CPAS standard contract (logement.wallonie.be, 2018). The right to pick among these belongs to the tenant, not the landlord. A landlord who insists on one particular form, or who refuses a validly constituted progressive guarantee, is acting outside the law.

The reasoning is that all three forms give the landlord equivalent security. A progressive bank guarantee capped at two months rent for leases from 1 June 2023 protects the landlord to the same ceiling as a blocked account (uvcw.be, 2023). The bank stands behind the tenant’s obligation, so the landlord is not worse off for accepting instalments.

There is a hard limit the other way, too. A landlord may not require the deposit to be paid directly into their personal or business account. The money must sit in a blocked account in the tenant’s name or be covered by a bank or CPAS guarantee, precisely so that neither party can spend it during the lease (logement.wallonie.be, 2018).

The counter-intuitive takeaway is that a landlord’s attempt to be selective usually backfires. Refusing a lawful guarantee does not strengthen the landlord’s position; it creates a legal weakness the tenant can rely on. The safest posture for a landlord is to accept any of the legal forms and focus instead on a rigorous entry inventory, which is what actually protects the property.

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