RETTMESSIGInternational contracts · Free first assessment · Answer within 24 hours
Signing in a country whose rules you do not know.
That is the whole risk.
A lease in Barcelona, an employment contract in Berlin, a freelance agreement with a client in London. The document is in a language you half read, the law behind it is not the one you grew up with, and the person handing you the pen is in a hurry. Send it to us first. You get an honest assessment of what you are about to be bound by, and the exact changes worth asking for.
What you get
A contract you understand before you are bound by it.
We read what you are actually signing
Clause by clause, in the language the contract is written in. You get a written note back: what binds you, what it costs if things go wrong, and which clauses are unusual for that country and that type of agreement.
We tell you what to change
Not a list of concerns. Concrete wording you can send to the other side, ranked by what is worth fighting for and what is normal to accept. If the contract is fair, we say that instead of inventing risk.
We stay on it while you negotiate
You are the one talking to the landlord, the employer or the agency. We sit behind you with the arguments, the numbers and the fallback positions, ready before each round.
Where the line goes
We are Norwegian advisers. We are not local lawyers, and we do not pretend to be.
What we do is read the agreement, explain exactly what it commits you to, measure it against what the law of that country allows, and give you the wording to change it. That is the work that decides most cases, and it happens long before anyone goes near a courtroom.
When a matter genuinely needs a licensed lawyer in the country concerned, court proceedings, eviction, a formal filing, we say so on day one and bring in local counsel rather than billing you for the detour. Saying that plainly is cheaper for you than finding it out three months in.
Spain, and Barcelona in particular
Six things about a Barcelona lease that a foreigner is rarely told.
Spanish tenancy law changed twice in the last two years, and Catalonia added its own rules on top from 1 January 2026. Much of what circulates as common knowledge is now simply wrong, in both directions. This is where it stands today.
A contract labelled temporada may not be one
Since 1 January 2026, a seasonal contract in Catalonia is only valid if the reason is stated in the contract, work, study, medical treatment or a similar cause, and the supporting documentation is filed together with the deposit. If it is not filed, the contract is presumed to be an ordinary home, with a five year minimum term and rent control attached. A great many contracts offered to foreigners in Barcelona do not meet the requirement.
Barcelona has a rent cap, and it is checkable
The city is a declared tensioned market until 16 March 2027. The rent in a new contract cannot exceed the rent paid under the previous contract for the same flat, nor the official reference index. If your landlord holds five properties or more, the index is a hard ceiling. The landlord is required to disclose both figures in the contract.
The agency fee is not yours to pay
Since the 2023 housing act, the landlord pays the estate agent and the cost of drawing up the contract on a residential lease. The month of agency fee charged to tenants is common practice and it is not lawful. It is usually around ten per cent of the annual rent, so it is real money.
One month deposit, held by the state, not the landlord
A residential deposit is one month of rent. In Catalonia the landlord must deposit it with INCASÒL within two months of signing, and return it within one month of handing back the keys. A landlord holding three months in a private account is outside the rules, and that is a lever for you.
The annual increase follows IRAV, not inflation
Since 2025 the reference index for rent increases is IRAV, published by the national statistics institute. It sits below the consumer price index, around 2.47 per cent in May 2026. An increase can only be applied at each anniversary of the contract, and it has to be notified in writing.
The Spanish version is the one that counts
Where a contract exists in Spanish and English, the Spanish text almost always prevails, and the differences between the two are rarely accidental. We read the Spanish. If the contract is commercial rather than residential, the protections above mostly fall away and the contract itself becomes your only protection, which is exactly when it has to be read properly.
Two rules that were widely reported this spring, an automatic two year extension and a two per cent cap on increases, were introduced in March 2026 and struck down by the Spanish parliament on 28 April 2026. They no longer apply. Anyone still quoting them at you, on either side of the table, is working from an old note. Position current as of 31 July 2026, and this area moves quickly, so we check it again for every case.
Fixed price, agreed first
No hourly billing. You know the number before we start.
Contract review
NOK 2,900Lease, employment contract, freelance agreement, purchase agreement, shareholder agreement. A written risk note with ready made demands for the other side.
approx. EUR 250 · within 48 hours · express within 24 hours NOK 4,900
Negotiation support
NOK 3,900We prepare each round with you: arguments, numbers, wording and the point where you walk away.
per negotiation
We draft the agreement
NOK 5,900Written from scratch and balanced, in language you understand, ready to sign.
within 5 working days
One hour, one problem
NOK 1,900A video call about your situation, with a written summary and a recommended next step the same day.
within 48 hours
The first assessment costs nothing. Send the contract, and you get an honest answer on whether it needs a full review at all. Prices are in Norwegian kroner and invoiced from Norway. Where a case needs local counsel, their fee is quoted to you separately before anything is agreed.
Send the contract
Before you sign, not after.
Upload the document or paste the text. An adviser reads it and replies by email within 24 hours on working days, in English, with what stands out and what to ask for. If the contract is fair, that is what the answer will say.
Already signed and now regretting it? Send it anyway. Several of the rules above make a clause unenforceable no matter what you put your name to.
Upload the contract
Drag it here or click to choose a file. PDF, Word, image or text, maximum 4 MB. A photo of a paper contract works. Spanish, Catalan, English or Norwegian, it makes no difference.
The assessment is sent to your email. We also reply on WhatsApp if that is faster for you. Everything you send is confidential from the first message.