key money

noun

1. advance rent or security required of a new tenant and given in exchange for the key to the house or apartment.
2. an amount of money paid, often secretly, to a landlord, superintendent, or current tenant by a person desiring future tenancy.

key money

noun

1. a fee payment required from a new tenant of a house or flat before he moves in

Word History and Origins

Origin of key money¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

To tease out key money lessons, we talked to a few leaders in the financial world about their best takeaways.

From Reuters

The key money rate, the overnight repo rate, is languishing at a 1-1/2-year low below 1%, and data due as early as Wednesday will show the state of new loans and total money supply.

From Reuters

“Rafael Ortega is the key money manager behind the Ortega family’s illicit financial schemes,” it said in a statement.

From Reuters

Trump has demanded a payoff to the U.S. government he called “key money” — described by others as a $5 billion “education fund” — which ByteDance said it was unaware of.

From Washington Post

"It's a little bit like the landlord/tenant; without a lease the tenant has nothing, so they pay what's called 'key money,' or they pay something," Trump said in August.

From Salon