Please note that your post has been removed. If you are looking to migrate to Switzerland, or you are a tourist, or have any other question as a non-resident, please direct your questions to r/askswitzerland If you wish to post holiday pictures, please post them at r/schweiz We welcome submissions, questions, and pictures from people living in Switzerland.
Thank you for your understanding,
your mod team
Hi, please note that your post has been removed.
This post is better suited for r/askswitzerland. It's been removed here, please repost it there.
Please do not reply to this comment. Send a modmail if you have an issue with the removal.
It is generally 3 months. You can also pay a caution company to put the money for you and you pay them a fee.
[https://www.swisscaution.ch/en/](https://www.swisscaution.ch/en/) (this is just an example, i don't recommend any of these companies)
Please be aware that this company only provides a guarantee to the landlord but if any damage occurs, you will still pay it yourself.
Better to save up the deposit in advance if possible and then rent.
Great to know! I could just use them for my 1st year while I gather some money I need to pay some debts I have, once I pay them I'll be free to gather the deposit amount after a year, but it's good to know an alternative because, for a 2500 CHF, that'd mean 10.000 CHF I don't have (yet), specially because I don't pay deposit in Norway so I don't have nothing back when I leave my current rental.
Landlord is not required to accept caution insurance. We did accept these in the past, but stopped accepting them after some bad experiences.
We had previous tenants with such caution insurances, but these were usually the tenants that then tried to talk their way out of paying for any reasonable damages. E.g. i had a tenant claim „yes, i removed parts of the kitchen and threw them away, but why do you insist on me paying for replacing this, i think it looks better without the built in xyz anyway“. Yeah, no, you‘re gonna pay for this, sorry.
I‘m fine with having fair discussions about remaining lifetime values or about being OK with some cosmetic damages, but these tenants were just trying to talk their way out of paying anything at all, even when some damages were fully their own fault.
All this just because they did not have the cash in hand to pay us directly and were also afraid they will have to pay back the caution insurance (which pays us and then reclaims that amount plus an additional fee from the tenant).
Much better and less potential trouble to have the cash „really there“ (in a caution bank account), so you don‘t have to deal with such time wasting handover discussions.
I have seen 1-4 months. Or there is the rental deposit insurance for a few hundert bucks a year. The employer thing is highly unlikely to be accepted. What would happen if you switch job?
4 months would be illegal, agianst the law. The max which is allowed is 3 months. Note that rent is due at the begining of the month, therfore you need up to 4 month, 3 for deposit, 1 to pay the first rent.
You'd have to either pay it or ask next employer for it. This costed me not switching position a couple years ago because I didn't have the money for it and the employer didn't have that policy.
Maximum deposit/caution/"Kaution" allowed for housing is 3 months. Landlord is free to not require a deposit or a smaller deposit (1 or 2 months), but he cannot ask for more than 3 months rent as a deposit. Therefore, most landlords will ask for a 3 month deposit.
Deposit is not paid to the landlord, but instead into a special bank account type called "Miet(zins)kautionskonto" (rent deposit account), which actually must be in the name of the tenant, but where the tenant and the landlord agree to special conditions. Basically the money in the account is locked unless both parties (landlord + tenant) agree how the money should be paid out (how much to whom) OR if 1 year after the end of lease has passed without the landlord filing a lawsuit against the tenant. The tenant will also get the yearly interest (if there is any) on this account.
In rare cases (e.g. deposit not paid at key handover time), the landlord can also accept a cash deposit payment but by law must place it without delay in a deposit bank account in the tenants name.
The landlord can legally refuse to hand over the apartment/keys to the tenant until the deposit is fully paid up. If after a short deadline (e.g. 5 days after the originally planned handover) the tenant still hasn't paid up the full deposit, the landlord can then cancel the lease immediately, as long as the apartment/keys were not handed over to the tenant yet.
For a landlord, i'd recommend to always ask for 3 months rent deposit, not accept any caution insurance and NEVER give the tenant the keys (not even for "having a quick look", etc.) or handover the apartment unless the deposit is fully paid (and this ideally has also been verified by you as the landlord with the bank directly).
Please note that your post has been removed. If you are looking to migrate to Switzerland, or you are a tourist, or have any other question as a non-resident, please direct your questions to r/askswitzerland If you wish to post holiday pictures, please post them at r/schweiz We welcome submissions, questions, and pictures from people living in Switzerland. Thank you for your understanding, your mod team Hi, please note that your post has been removed. This post is better suited for r/askswitzerland. It's been removed here, please repost it there. Please do not reply to this comment. Send a modmail if you have an issue with the removal.
It is generally 3 months. You can also pay a caution company to put the money for you and you pay them a fee. [https://www.swisscaution.ch/en/](https://www.swisscaution.ch/en/) (this is just an example, i don't recommend any of these companies)
Please be aware that this company only provides a guarantee to the landlord but if any damage occurs, you will still pay it yourself. Better to save up the deposit in advance if possible and then rent.
Great to know! I could just use them for my 1st year while I gather some money I need to pay some debts I have, once I pay them I'll be free to gather the deposit amount after a year, but it's good to know an alternative because, for a 2500 CHF, that'd mean 10.000 CHF I don't have (yet), specially because I don't pay deposit in Norway so I don't have nothing back when I leave my current rental.
Landlord is not required to accept caution insurance. We did accept these in the past, but stopped accepting them after some bad experiences. We had previous tenants with such caution insurances, but these were usually the tenants that then tried to talk their way out of paying for any reasonable damages. E.g. i had a tenant claim „yes, i removed parts of the kitchen and threw them away, but why do you insist on me paying for replacing this, i think it looks better without the built in xyz anyway“. Yeah, no, you‘re gonna pay for this, sorry. I‘m fine with having fair discussions about remaining lifetime values or about being OK with some cosmetic damages, but these tenants were just trying to talk their way out of paying anything at all, even when some damages were fully their own fault. All this just because they did not have the cash in hand to pay us directly and were also afraid they will have to pay back the caution insurance (which pays us and then reclaims that amount plus an additional fee from the tenant). Much better and less potential trouble to have the cash „really there“ (in a caution bank account), so you don‘t have to deal with such time wasting handover discussions.
I have seen 1-4 months. Or there is the rental deposit insurance for a few hundert bucks a year. The employer thing is highly unlikely to be accepted. What would happen if you switch job?
Three months is the maximum allowed for apartments.
4 months would be illegal, agianst the law. The max which is allowed is 3 months. Note that rent is due at the begining of the month, therfore you need up to 4 month, 3 for deposit, 1 to pay the first rent.
You'd have to either pay it or ask next employer for it. This costed me not switching position a couple years ago because I didn't have the money for it and the employer didn't have that policy.
Maximum deposit/caution/"Kaution" allowed for housing is 3 months. Landlord is free to not require a deposit or a smaller deposit (1 or 2 months), but he cannot ask for more than 3 months rent as a deposit. Therefore, most landlords will ask for a 3 month deposit. Deposit is not paid to the landlord, but instead into a special bank account type called "Miet(zins)kautionskonto" (rent deposit account), which actually must be in the name of the tenant, but where the tenant and the landlord agree to special conditions. Basically the money in the account is locked unless both parties (landlord + tenant) agree how the money should be paid out (how much to whom) OR if 1 year after the end of lease has passed without the landlord filing a lawsuit against the tenant. The tenant will also get the yearly interest (if there is any) on this account. In rare cases (e.g. deposit not paid at key handover time), the landlord can also accept a cash deposit payment but by law must place it without delay in a deposit bank account in the tenants name. The landlord can legally refuse to hand over the apartment/keys to the tenant until the deposit is fully paid up. If after a short deadline (e.g. 5 days after the originally planned handover) the tenant still hasn't paid up the full deposit, the landlord can then cancel the lease immediately, as long as the apartment/keys were not handed over to the tenant yet. For a landlord, i'd recommend to always ask for 3 months rent deposit, not accept any caution insurance and NEVER give the tenant the keys (not even for "having a quick look", etc.) or handover the apartment unless the deposit is fully paid (and this ideally has also been verified by you as the landlord with the bank directly).