key money
noun
advance rent or security required of a new tenant and given in exchange for the key to the house or apartment.
an amount of money paid, often secretly, to a landlord, superintendent, or current tenant by a person desiring future tenancy.
Origin of key money
1First recorded in 1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for key money
key money
noun
a fee payment required from a new tenant of a house or flat before he moves in
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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