My partner and I want to move to a larger apartment. We’ve found a place that seems good and we were accepted for it. We received the contract today, but there are a couple of things that seem odd about it. Since this is only our second apartment in Switzerland, we’re not sure if we are being overly paranoid. We’re in Kanton Zurich in case that makes a difference.
The first red flag is that the Verwaltung does not have an online presence. The address given in the contract is a Postfach and not an actual address. The name of the Vermieter does seem to be real, though we have not been in touch with him personally.
Other potential issues, that are not present in the contract of our current place:
Minimum rental term of 2 years.
There is a stated price of 255 CHF for “Akonto HK/NK” but then in a later passage it says:
Betriebskosten:
Nebst den vorgenannten Heiz- und Warmwasserkosten gemäss Art. 5 VMWG, werden auch die Betriebskosten abgerechnet.
Als Betriebskosten gelten:
Hauswartung inkl. Material, Reinigung, Umgebung, Gartenanlage, Schneeräumung, Kehrichtgebühren und Grünabfuhr, Containerreinigung, Wasser- und Abwassergebühren inkl. Grundgebühren, TV-Gebühren, Allgemeinstrom, Services und Unterhaltsabonnemente für Lift (inkl. Lifttelefon) und Lüftungsanalgen inkl. kontrollierte Wohnungslüftung sowie für technische und bauliche Einrichtungen, Services- und Unterhalt Wasserbehandlung/Enthärtungsanlage, Rückstellungen für Boilerentkalkung und Leitungsspülung (Fallstrang), Verwaltungshonorar 4% inkl. MWSt.
I’m not sure that i understand but that seems like a list of things that could cost quite a lot extra money.
Before we return the apartment, we need to have the washing machine and dryer checked by a professional and to present a receipt of this.
After we leave, the landlord will get the appliances checked by a professional at our expense.
These seem like a lot of places where we could be cheated out of decent sums of money. Am I being paranoid? Would it be reasonable to ask them to strike these from the contract?
Could you still end the contract if you present the next tenant? Some hassle, but it shouldn’t be an issue in Zurich if the rent is ok-ish.
Not to me. Especially smaller ones, why would they need one? Still would make sure they are reachable if you need them.
These are quite standard. I assume the amounts are included in the 255 CHF?
This is controversial, at best, as per this article. Common to be in the contract, but not enforceable according to this one.
I guess many landlords include it, hoping renters will pay up to avoid the hassle, or in case a future court ruling backs them up. I had this included once, but wasn’t ask to pay when moving out.
These are certainly not in your favor, but, alas, not unusual, either.
I had something similar in my contract for a previous apartment, but for the floor. The previous tenant didn’t do that. Neither did I. It wasn’t a problem. I don’t know why some landlords write this into the contract - because I don’t know anyone who has had this enforced.
I recently read an article about this maintenance fee in a local association of French cantons.
At the end of the year, you can ask the full detail of the provision monthly fee you paid and how they were used. Mostly to maintain the common, take out trash, gas for the central heating and water. But in extra the landlord could charge an administrative fee up to 4%. Above that you could complain. I think they mention it in case you dig in the detail and start to complain about it.
I just assume that for any legit business, a website or basic web presence easily found by googling is a necessity. But maybe I’m too deep in the tech world
That I’m not sure about. I’m not a native German speaker but to me it sounds ambiguous whether all of the listed things are included in the 255 or they should be paid on top. The possibility of the latter case makes me uneasy since obviously no price is specified in that case.
It says Akonto, so the 255 CHF is a best guess for everything. At the end you will receive a final bill and you get something back or you have to pay on top. If you want to know in detail, you could ask what has been billed the previous years.
BTW if I remember right, Service contracts can be billed to the renter, but not repairs.
Which part exactly? I read this as «255 estimated for heating / warm water (HK) and other utilities / cost (NK). Others include water, cleaning, admin etc…”.
Akonto is supposed to be a good estimate, but could increase due to higher energy cost, general inflation adjustment or excessive by you or others.
I’m not a native German speaker so maybe I’m misunderstanding. It’s the word “Nebst” that is making me unsure.
Nebst den vorgenannten Heiz- und Warmwasserkosten gemäss Art. 5 VMWG, werden auch die Betriebskosten abgerechnet.
Google translated to English:
In addition to the aforementioned heating and hot water costs according to Art. 5 VMWG, the operating costs are also billed.
To me this sounds like it would mean “in addition to the previous costs, here are some more things that you have to pay”
But from what you are saying, likely i am misunderstanding, and 255 is an estimate for all of the items (heating, water, and all of the Betriebskosten)?
Translation seems fine. The paragraph they state is specifically on heating, which is the HK part and includes things like maintance.
Whereas they do need to specifically mention what’s included in NK, otherwise it’s considered part of the rent. Here, to my knowledge it’s legit to charge maintenance costs, but not for repairs.
It does mention that 255 is for HK and NK.
The amount is also plausible for a regular sized apartment for both.
You can still ask them for details after moving in, and could challenge any sketchy position.
Just to elaborate on this, since i didn’t give all the details. In the contract it gives the agency as:
Vertretung durch:
Company name
Postfach, Gemeinde
Is it normal that the verwaltung does not have an address, phone number, or personal contact? We’ve been in touch with them only via email (their email address is @gmail.com). We did meet someone from the Verwaltung when we did the flat viewing but didn’t catch her name so we can’t look her up.
Furthermore we can’t find the company in the Zentrale Firmenindex, which we found even weirder.
Huh. This is indeed a flag. You should find the company in the commercial register or something. Maybe it’s just a private person managing property without making a company or something? Just saying, I am not an expert.
It sounds a bit fishy to me as well… Do you know the previous tenant or a neighbor? If yes, you could also try to ask them.
If everything went well for them, it is probably legit?
In any case, if you havent yet, consider becoming part of the Mietverband (i think ~100.-/year) to be able to get some help/consulting if things become weird. At least for me it gives some peace of mind (in addition to legal insurance)…
A while back my agency included something fishy in a rent increase that would prevent me to lower the rent if interest are dropping again. The advise I got from the Mietverband was very helpful on how to proceed.
Thanks all for the advice. We decided to just straightforwardly ask them to explain the things we are concerned about, and we will see how they respond. If we are at all unsure, we will not sign the contract.
(We did this too, we had been meaning to for a while but this was the thing that finally triggered us to actually do it)
We never heard back from them after our email asking for clarification. So either they are some kind of dubious people, or they didn’t appreciate having tenants that read the contract in detail and asked legitimate questions about it. Either way, I think we made the right decision to stay put and not sign the contract.
Thanks as always to everyone for your help!
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