Be careful when looking for accomodation in Naples

I had a wonderful time in Naples (I stayed there for 6 months) and I would totally recommend it for Erasmus. However, I had a bad experience regarding my accomodation. I found an apartment with the help of the ISU, a free service provided by my university. They are cooperating with apartment owners in the city and arrange appointments for the students to check the apartments. They did not offer me a contract, although I asked for one, saying it is not needed (however, as you will see later, it is pretty important and I met many Erasmus students who had a contract for their apartments). My apartment seemed ok at first (it is why I agreed to pay a rather expensive rent for it), but after I moved in I discovered it had many problems. The thing is, that the landlady always avoided fixing anything that didn't go well in the apartment. Also, sometimes she forgot to pay the bills, so we wouldn't have electricity for a few hours. Usually, ISU offered some support, calling her about this kind of problems. But keep in mind that they would not help you change apartments if you want to find something better.

Like most people in Naples, I payed 2 rents as a deposit, which would be returned to me, if there were no damages in the apartment. I left the apartment with no damages, but one day before my flight back, the landlady said that she wants to keep some of my money, because I hosted 2 of my friends for one night (I didn't hide it -of course- but I don't know how she found out, which is very strange...). Then, after I left and she still hasn't had given me back most of my money, the ISU contacted me, saying that she is going to give me my money back, but she will keep about 40(!!) euros for paying a cleaning lady, although I had cleaned the apartment before I left. I said that this amount is absurd for cleaning services. Later they said it's going to be about 20 after all. Anyway, this continued for some days, with the communication being pretty difficult (meanwhile, the landlady was telling many lies to the ISU, in order to convince them that she has a right to keep some of my money) .

In my opinion, to some extent, the ISU was working more for the benefit of the landlady, because they didn't offer me any certainty about how much money I was getting back (they also started being aggressive after some point...). I was very mad, and also suspicious, because they waited for me to leave Naples to inform me about all this stuff. Keep in mind, that I have never been informed about such expenses (also, I know that previous flatmates that moved out didn't pay anything for cleaning services...).

I would recommend to ask for a contract, and if they refuse, ask them to inform you orally with any rules they have (e.g. concerning guests, or paying for -rather expensive- cleaning services...). In addition, maybe you shouldn't tell them exactly on which day you are leaving (or use a false date), so that they don't count on your absense from the city to do any shady buisiness. Perhaps this way you will also get all your deposit money before you leave. Another important thing, is to make the owner check the apartment for damages BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE APARTMENT (and maybe take some photos), because they can try to blame you for causing some damage that you are not responsible of and keep money from your deposit (they did this to one of my flatmates).

In any case, I would totally NOT recommend using the ISU to find accomodation. There are erasmus groups, like Erasmusland, ESA Napoli, ESN Napoli that can also help you find accomodation and maybe they are a much better way to go.

Have fun!

*(I don't know if I can share specific information about the address of the apartment that I was in, let me figure it out, but until then,maybe I could send the specific info through a PM)*