Landlord Checklist: What to Know Before You Rent Out

Last updated September 21, 2026

Short answer: Before you rent out, you need to have six things in order: a legal rent, a deposit and prepaid rent within the legal caps, an authorised lease (Typeformular A, 10th edition), the energy label in your listing, the tax on your rental income, and sensible screening of your tenant. Here's the checklist with the key rules.

It's easy to forget something when you're renting out a home for the first time. There are legal, financial and practical matters to keep track of all at once, and most of it only loosely hangs together in your head until you've been through it once. Here's the whole process in one place.

The Short Version

Item	What to remember
Rent	Compare with similar homes – and check whether the rent is regulated
Deposit	At most 3 months' rent
Prepaid rent	At most 3 months' rent, and no more than the rent in the tenant's notice period
Lease	Typeformular A, 10th edition
Energy label	Must appear in the listing whenever the building must be energy-labelled – whatever the home's size
Tax	Rental income is generally taxable – check the rules at skat.dk
Screening	Income, a reference and the applicant's own RKI printout – never discrimination

1. Set a Legal Rent

Look at a few comparable homes in the same area before you set the price – too high scares off serious tenants, too low looks suspicious. But the price isn't always yours to choose. If the building was first occupied after 31 December 1991, the rent can generally be set freely (section 54 of the Danish Rent Act, lejeloven). If it's older and covered by the rules on omkostningsbestemt husleje (cost-based rent), the rent is tied to the property's necessary operating costs plus a limited return (section 19).

Which rules apply depends on things like when the building was first occupied, how many apartments it has and whether the municipality is regulated. Your municipality (kommune) can tell you whether it's covered by the rules. If you're renting out a condominium apartment (ejerlejlighed), special rules apply – see Renting Out an Ejerlejlighed.

2. Keep the Deposit and Prepaid Rent Under the Cap

The deposit may be at most 3 months' rent (section 59(1) of the Danish Rent Act). Prepaid rent may also be at most 3 months' rent – and at the same time no more than the rent the tenant has to pay during their notice period (section 59(3)). If you rent out a room in your own home, where the tenant has 1 month's notice, prepaid rent may therefore be at most 1 month's rent.

If you demand more, it's illegal regardless of what the lease says, and the tenant can generally claim the excess back. LejLet.nu's listing wizard rejects a deposit or prepaid rent of more than 3 months' rent each, but it doesn't check the notice period – you need to keep an eye on that yourself.

3. Use an Authorised Lease

The Danish Rent Act only allows authorised standard forms for residential leases (section 14). Typeformular A, 10th edition, has been in use since 1 September 2022 and has been the only authorised form since 1 January 2023. Since 1 February 2025, it has also been available in an authorised English version, in case your tenant doesn't speak Danish. Fill it in thoroughly, and be especially careful with the special-terms field – that's where individual agreements most often become unclear. See Lease Contracts for Landlords.

4. Write the Listing – With the Energy Label

When you advertise a home for rent – including online – the energy label from a valid energy label report (energimærkning) must appear in the listing, and the tenant must receive the energy label report before the lease is signed (sections 7 and 8 a of the Danish act on energy savings in buildings). The requirement doesn't depend on the size of the apartment, because the energy label belongs to the building. Exemptions include detached buildings under 60 m², summer houses, and lets of no more than 4 weeks at a time. If you break the rules, you risk a fine.

LejLet.nu's listing wizard currently requires the energy label at 60 m² or more, but the law requires it for every home in a building that must be energy-labelled – so always fill it in. Use a concrete title, describe the home honestly, and use all your photo slots. The listing is free and active for 30 days, and you can renew it for free with "Renew".

5. Know Your Tax Obligations

Rental income is generally taxable, but a basic tax-free allowance (bundfradrag) can make part of it tax-free. Which scheme you can use depends on things like whether you're renting out a room or the whole home, and for how long. If you rent out your whole owner-occupied home for a continuous period of at least 12 months, it counts as commercial letting: you keep accounts with deductions for your actual expenses, and there's no basic allowance. Check the current amounts and conditions at skat.dk (the Danish Tax Agency), or talk to an accountant – see also Tax on Rental Income From Your Home.

6. Screen Your Tenant Sensibly

Ask about the applicant's employment situation, ask for documentation of their income, and ask for a reference from a previous landlord if possible. As a private landlord, you can't look another person up in RKI (Denmark's main register of bad debtors) yourself. Instead, ask the applicant to download their own record – it's free with MitID at dininfo.dk – and show you the printout. LejLet.nu doesn't screen tenants for you.

If you rent to the public, you generally may not reject or discriminate against an applicant on grounds such as sex, race, ethnic origin or disability. This follows from separate equal-treatment laws, not from the Rent Act.

If you're unsure about any single point, get it clarified before you publish the listing. It's far easier to fix now than to clean up a disagreement after the tenant has moved in.