Passport Needed to rent Rome Flat?

Greg,

Yes, that's perfectly normal. All travellers in Italy (and other European countries) are required to submit Passport information when renting accommodations. The details will be recorded and submitted to the local Prefecture of Police. Many times the desk staff will just record the information at the time of check-in, while in other cases they will take the Passport and return it a few hours later.

I've never heard of this being done when renting a flat (keeping in mind that I never rent flats), but it certainly sounds reasonable.

Happy travels!

Yes perfectly normal, i rented an apartment in Firenze for the whole month of September and had to show my passports. In that case landlady asked for copies so the school i was attending made copies of my passports for the landlady. Everywhere i go in Italy, whether i stay at convents, bed and breakfasts, hotels, or rent apartments, i have to show my passports.

Yes.

It's a law introduced by Mussolini in 1931 to fight what we today call "terrorists", but which at the time was anybody who didn't agree with the Fascist party.

Art. 109 of the Uniform Law of Public Security, introduced with Royal Decree Law 773 of 1931, and last amended with Law 29 March 2001, n.135 requires the "Operators of hotels and other accommodation facilities, including those that provide accommodation in tents, caravans, as well as landlords of vacation houses and apartments and, including the operators of unconventional reception facilities, with the exception of Alpine refuge facilities included in a special list established by the region or autonomous province, may provide accommodation exclusively to persons holding an identity card or other acceptable document certifying their identity in accordance with regulations."

A January 7, 2013 Decree of the Ministry of the Interior now requires the above operators to submit such guest information to the police authority daily via internet in a special Police Website.

The penalty for the hotel operators/landlords who fail to comply with the law is a fine of Euro 206 or 3 months of imprisonment.

So if you want your apartment, you'd better send your ID documents. I don't think the landlord is willing to take any chances.

I'd go for the €206 rather than the 3 months.

I'd never question the checking of passports or other National Identification by any abode.

Very common. Also, since the Landlord is asking for the passport, there is a much higher probability that the apt rental is legal.

Have rented a number of apartments in Italy most recently this past July in Venice, Florence and Rome. All 3 rentals wanted to see our passports and the Florence rental wanted copies of passports which I knew in advance. And as previous posters stated, hotels will also ask for your passports.

FWIW... a few years ago we were required to show our passports in Internet cafes. We were told then that it was a requirement of Italian law dealing with terrorism. Our passport information was duly recorded before we could access the computers. And many years ago, hotels took and held our passports until check out.

I don't believe passports were ever held to check out. But it was common for passports to be held overnight and, if staying for one night, then they were held till checkout. Now with cheap copy machines, it is rare for the passport to be held for more than a couple of hours. Generally, a copy will be made and returned in a matter of a few minutes. But the taking of passport information is very common through Europe.

And just to add that there is no harm/identity theft that can come from providing a copy of a passport.

Douglas is correct. Your driver's license has more information that is useful for an id thief than a passport copy.

Yep...like everyone has said here...holding your passport is universal in Italy. I've had hotels keep mine for days or just a couple of minutes to make a copy. Don't even think twice about it.

As others have stated, perfectly legitimate (always have to produce passport to check in to a place). I have made a few copies of my passport ahead of time and offered that along with my passport. They check the copy against my passport in front of me, and that way I get to hold on to the passport as they take the copy. I know this is probably overkill, but if it makes you nervous to relinquish your passport, give that option a try.
Do bring your driver's license as backup ID in cases where a passport is not required (such as checking out audio guides).