You paid a deposit for a fitted kitchen, a renovation or goods, the agreed deadline passed, and there is no result. This guide sets out the grounds on which you can terminate, how much has to be refunded, and the order in which to pursue it.
This is about a deposit under a contract with a contractor or seller — not a salary advance at work.
About the deadlines. The time limits and statutory wording here reflect the versions in force when this guide was written. Lithuanian law changes often, and your situation may be governed by different rules than those described. Before relying on any deadline — especially one that is running out — check the version currently in force at e-seimas.lrs.lt or take advice. A missed deadline usually cannot be revived.
What determines your route
Before doing anything, establish what kind of contract this is — it decides both the provisions and the forum:
| Situation | Rules that apply | Where to go |
|---|---|---|
| Renovation, construction, furniture made and fitted for your own needs | Consumer works (Arts. 6.672–6.680) | Written claim → VVTAT → court |
| Ordered goods you never received | Consumer sales (Art. 6.359) | Written claim → VVTAT → court |
| A deal between two private individuals | General contract rules | Straight to court — VVTAT has no jurisdiction |
| The customer is a business, not a consumer | General works rules (Arts. 6.644+) | Straight to court |
Deposit or earnest money — the distinction decides everything
Precision matters here, because a simplified version of this rule circulates widely.
Earnest money is defined in the Code. Art. 6.98 defines rankpinigiai as a sum given to prove the contract exists and to secure its performance. The agreement must be in writing or it is void (Art. 6.99). The consequences are explicit (Art. 6.100): if the party who gave it defaults, it stays with the recipient; if the recipient defaults, they return double.
There is no definition of a plain advance. Nowhere in the Civil Code is there an article defining avansas — the closest is Art. 6.309(2), under which paying money to a person who has undertaken to sell a thing counts as part payment of the price (an advance) unless the parties agreed otherwise.
Practical consequence: because the Code neither defines an advance nor sets rules for refunding one, do not rely on general formulas about advances — rely on the concrete termination grounds set out below. Those are what actually recover the money.
What does matter in practice: an earnest-money agreement without written form is void. If the contract says "rankpinigiai" but there is no separate written agreement, the recipient's position is weak.
And most importantly: a contractor is entitled to demand a deposit only where the works contract provides for it (Art. 6.655(2)).
If you ordered work: renovation, construction, furniture
First, which rules apply
If you ordered construction work for personal, family or household needs, Art. 6.681(4) routes the contract to the consumer works rules. In its 2024 review of construction-works practice the Supreme Court set an explicit order of priority: consumer works rules (Arts. 6.672–6.680) apply first as lex specialis, then construction works, and only then the general works provisions.
That works in your favour — consumer works rules give the customer stronger guarantees.
The strongest tool: Art. 6.673(2)
Most people start by trying to prove the contractor was at fault. Under consumer works rules you may not need to:
Art. 6.673(2): the customer may at any time before accepting the result of the work terminate the contract, paying the part of the agreed price proportionate to the work performed.
In practice:
- You may terminate at any time before you accept the result
- You do not need to prove fault, fundamental breach, or important reasons
- You pay only for the part actually performed — the rest of the deposit comes back
- Terminating this way is not a breach of your obligations, so the contractor has no claim for losses and is not treated as the injured party
Compare the general rule: under Art. 6.658(4) a customer may withdraw only for important reasons and must compensate the contractor's losses, including what the contractor saves. Consumer works carry none of that burden.
Two caveats worth knowing:
- The right exists only until you accept the result — once the contractor has completed the work, a duty to accept arises
- "Proportionate to work performed" covers more than labour: under Art. 6.653(2) the contractor's incurred expenses for the performed part go into the price
Where the contractor is at fault — additional grounds
If you want damages as well as your money back, Art. 6.673(2) is not enough — by design it yields no damages. Then the fault-based grounds apply, which the Supreme Court identifies as concrete triggers of Art. 6.680:
| Provision | When it applies |
|---|---|
| Art. 6.658(2) | The contractor does not start on time, or works so slowly that finishing by the deadline is clearly impossible → withdraw and claim damages |
| Art. 6.658(3) | It becomes clear the work will not be done properly → set a reasonable period to cure; on failure, withdraw and claim damages, or have a third party finish at the contractor's expense |
| Art. 6.665(3) | Defects not cured within a reasonable period, or essential and incurable → terminate and claim damages |
| Art. 6.652(4) | The final deadline was missed and performance lost its point for the customer → refuse to accept the work and claim losses |
Two warnings. First, these grounds do not remove the fundamental-breach assessment under Art. 6.217(2) — they do not operate automatically the moment a deadline passes. Second, Art. 6.652(4) is read narrowly by the courts: it is not enough that the contract states a deadline; it must be obvious from the contract itself that strict compliance was of essential importance and that the consequences of missing it were individually agreed.
This is why, for consumer works, it is usually simpler to take the Art. 6.673(2) route to recover the money, and to claim damages only where they are real and provable.
If you ordered goods that never arrived
Since 1 January 2022 consumer sales rules also cover contracts for goods that still have to be manufactured (Art. 6.350-1(1)). That matters for made-to-order furniture.
The delivery and refund rule is Art. 6.359:
- Goods are handed over no later than 30 days from conclusion of the contract, unless otherwise agreed
- If that passes you may set an additional reasonable period
- If that fails, you may terminate unilaterally
- If the seller refused to deliver, or the timing was of essential importance, you may terminate immediately, with no additional period
- On termination the seller must return all sums paid immediately
A common error is to rely on Art. 6.364-3 and its 14-day deadline. That article concerns defective goods, and the 14 days run from the return of the goods — when nothing was delivered, there is nothing to return. For non-delivery, Art. 6.359 applies, and its refund deadline is "immediately".
If furniture is not only made but also installed in your home, the line between sale and works is not sharp: where on-site work predominates, consumer works rules apply. In practice it is worth citing both grounds in your written claim.
How to pursue it, in order
1. A written claim — mandatory
Before applying to VVTAT you must first write to the seller or service provider (Consumer Rights Protection Act Art. 21(1)), and do so within 3 months of the day you learned or should have learned of the infringement.
A missed 3-month deadline is one of the most common reasons VVTAT refuses to examine requests.
This is the most important deadline in the guide. Miss it and the VVTAT route closes. Do not rely on this text alone — check the version of VTAĮ Art. 21 currently in force, or call VVTAT. If the deadline is close, send the claim now: a roughly worded claim in time beats a perfect one too late.
State: the contract date and number, the amount paid and the payment date, the agreed deadline, what you demand (return of a specific sum) and by when. Attach the contract and the bank statement.
Where it disagrees with your demands, the trader must give a full reasoned written reply supported by documents within 14 days of receiving your claim (Art. 21(2)), and where it refuses or only partly agrees, name the competent dispute-resolution body (Art. 21(3)).
You need not wait out the full 14 days: an unfavourable reply on day two already opens the VVTAT route.
2. VVTAT — free, no lawyer
If the trader refuses, apply to the State Consumer Rights Protection Authority:
- The procedure is free for the consumer and neither party is required to be represented
- A decision follows within 90 days of receipt of the complete set of documents; for justified reasons this may be extended by no more than 30 days
- VVTAT handles the areas not assigned to RRT, the Bank of Lithuania, VERT or the Bar — renovation, furniture and goods disputes fall here
- Since 2022 its competence covers all claims arising from consumer relations that a court could decide, including damages and contractual penalties
An important limit: VVTAT hears disputes between a consumer and a trader only. A deal between two private individuals is outside its competence — that goes straight to court.
The decision is not automatically binding: it takes effect only if neither party files a claim in a court of general competence within 30 days. Once in force it is an enforceable instrument, executed through a bailiff.
3. A court order — the cheapest money route
Where the claim is monetary and essentially undisputed, an ordinary claim is not necessary. CPK ch. XXIII (Arts. 431–440) provides a simplified court-order procedure:
- The court fee is a quarter of the sum payable for an ordinary claim
- If the debtor objects and you have to file a normal claim, the fee already paid is credited
- Applications are heard by district courts
When it does not work: where the debtor lives or is established abroad, or where their residence and workplace are unknown. And critically — if the debtor files objections, the order lapses and the dispute moves into ordinary proceedings, so it suits a genuinely contested claim poorly.
4. A full claim
In property disputes the court fee is 3% of the claim, subject to a minimum of €20 (that floor is indexed, so in practice it is higher). Filing exclusively electronically reduces the fee to 75%, minimum €5. Claims up to €5,000 are heard under the simplified small-claims procedure.
In practice that means a €500 deposit claim attracts the minimum fee — tens of euros, not hundreds.
The exact figure is always calculated by the court — indexation and discounts change. These numbers are for judging whether litigation is worth it, not for filling in a payment order.
When it is actually fraud rather than a dispute
Briefly: rarely. Mere non-performance or a missed deadline does not itself give rise to criminal liability where nothing prevents recovering the loss by civil means. Fraud (Criminal Code Art. 182) requires deception already present when the contract was made, or deliberate conduct that makes the civil route impossible — the person cannot be identified, the transaction was structured so it cannot be proved, the debtor deliberately made themselves insolvent or absconded.
So a contractor who is merely late is not legally a fraudster — and calling them one publicly shifts the risk onto you. Why that is, and how to write about it safely: Naming a scammer on Facebook
How to avoid paying a deposit you cannot recover
The safeguards that work better than any checklist:
- A written contract with a specific date, not "in 4–6 weeks"
- A deposit only where the contract provides for it — without that there is no right to demand one (Art. 6.655(2))
- As small a share as possible, tied to stages rather than paid in full up front
- Payment by transfer, not cash — it leaves proof and a recipient account
- State clearly in the contract that it is an advance, not earnest money
- If timing is critical for you, that must be individually agreed in the contract — otherwise relying on a missed deadline is harder
Before paying, check the IBAN, phone or email to see whether others have already reported the same recipient. The check is free.
Summary
- A contractor is entitled to a deposit only if the contract provides for it (Art. 6.655(2))
- In consumer works the strongest tool is Art. 6.673(2): terminate any time before accepting the result, pay only for what was actually done, no fault to prove
- That route yields no damages — for those you need the fault grounds (Arts. 6.658(2)–(3), 6.665(3)) and a fundamental-breach assessment
- For undelivered goods the provision is Art. 6.359 (30 days, additional period, termination, immediate refund), not Art. 6.364-3
- The written claim is mandatory and due within 3 months; the reply within 14 days
- VVTAT is free, 90 days, and for consumer–trader disputes only
- For an undisputed sum the cheapest route is a court order (a quarter of the fee)
If the same contractor or seller has left other people out of pocket, the cases are worth joining up — register it on Apgavo.lt so your report is linked with other victims' and reaches a law firm's assessment for a group lawsuit. Registration is free and nothing is made public.
Register on Apgavo.lt · Check an identifier
About this guide. General information, not legal advice — it cannot assess your contract or your circumstances, and almost everything turns on those. The legal content was checked against primary sources on 29 July 2026; versions may have changed since. Before relying on a specific provision or deadline, check the text in force at e-seimas.lrs.lt.
VVTAT also answers consumer-rights questions free of charge.
Found an error? Tell us — [email protected]. Legislation changes, and wrong information on this page could cost someone money, so corrections are made promptly.