Hi All,

I am brand spanking new to this forum so hello to all of you!

I am moving to Zurich with my girlfriend in October. We have found an apartment that we like and the application has been accpeted. The relocation company have translated the contract and it contains this.....

" The rent calculation is based on the mortgage interest rate that came into effect June 2007 which 3.25 this is ok. The cost of living and inflation are both from July 31st 2007 this is all OK.

However, additionally the owner has made a reserve of 20% on the monthly net rent. Reason of this reserve is that the landlord has not yet achieved the maximum possible rent by Swiss law with the current rent. The owner would have the right to increase the rent of 20% any time. The owner can only increase your rent when you can also give lease cancellation notice. The owner must give you 10 days more notice than you must give him. (exception is with 5 year contracts or 3 year graduated increment contracts)."


I have quoted the relocation company to try and make it less complicated. Has anyone else seen this type of deal? Is it normal??

Obviously it sounds dodgy.....you move in, we hike the rent 20% but allow you to be released from the contract.....all you have to do is pay the massive moving costs! Trapped!

Please let me know your thoughts and I apologise in advance if this has been covered to death, I have used the search but turned up nothing.

Thanks,

Chris

The odd thing is that the landlord has not been able to get the full 'approved' rent level for the apartment. Is there something wrong with it?

Chris...
If I were you I would reconsider to sign that contract....
20% is a lot of money...

After 1 year in Switzerland... I would also recommend you to stay where you are....
This is anything but an ideal Country (discrimination towards expat is well know) .

Cheers
Max

That's not a very encouraging post for a new user!

www.mieterverband.ch
get an original of the contract and send it to them; in my opinion the rent can only be raised with interest rate changes so this 20% strikes me as wrong.

But get someone in the know to check it - for the small price of membership, you'll find the Mieterverband useful (and some there do speak English).

As far as I know there is nothing wrong with the apartment, give me some per se's....I'm also not entirely au fait with Swiss rental law is and why he wouldn't get the full allowable rent, i guessed that if he asked for the maximum allowable rent then no-one would move in?!

Max - constructive answers only please, I really don't want this thread turned into an argument over whether people should emigrate or not. I appreciate the difficulties of living in foreign lands and that it doesn't work for everyone.

Thanks.

what spec is the apartment and price, just out of interest. Location's important too - we might be able to suggest if it's a fair price now...

pm, for obvious reasons.

I would ask the relocation company to clarify this, the way I read it is contradictory, On the one hand he can make the increase any time he wants, and on the other he can only do so when you are able to give notice, which is normally 3 months before your annual lease expires, ie. if your lease starts on 1st Sept 07 then it would run until 1st Sept 08 at which point it would automatically run another 12 months UNLESS you give notice by 1st June. And this is the date when he can increase the rent.

It can be that the apartment has been refurbished recently. There are some conditions under which the rent remains fixed the previous amount and is subsequently increased after a set period of time.

I think the best way forward is to do as suggested and get some clarification. Reading the message again it would seem that the 20% can only be realised at the end of the initial contract term i.e. 3 months from the end of the year. This is annoying but not as bad as it happening within hours of arriving!!

Thanks for the posts so far. Any further input will be much appreciated.

Chris.

I have now got the rest of the clause that the agency didn't deem necessary for me to know!

It turns out the rent is considered reduced as a result of emmissions from the adjacent road. However, should the emmissions from the road stop (by-pass) or reduce significantly then the owner has the right to increase the rent by up to 20%.

Does anyone know if reduced rents on account of road emmissions is normal? The road is not particularly busy but it wouldn't be the strangest thing I have heard of in Switzerland! In general the relocation company beleive this is precautionary and not too much to worry about....then again it's not them that would have to move!

Any comments appreciated.

What is the criteria for this discount being applicable ? Who decides ? Is this specified in detail in the contract ? I suggest you dig further...

The more cycnical might suggest that such a discount could be welcomed by the landlord to allow him to get a tenant easily next to a flyover, and then remove the discount as soon as he has someone signed-up....

dave

No this is not the correct interpretation. What is being said is that if there is a rent increase due to a change of interest rates at the reference bank which is usually the cantonal bank then this is a normal proceeding. If on the other hand he increases his rent by any amount out of step with these fluctuations then you are permitted to make an extraordinary termination of the agreement within the permitted notice period, which for this might be 1 month! And all other sections about early termination or paying penalties will not apply.

When there are such clauses and the landlord enforces an increase it only applies if you accept it. Rejection usually results in termination of contract and usually a landlord will only do this if he has someone else already lined up at the higher rate - which is of course quite rare.

And don't forget once you are here the moving costs "do it yourself" are much lower than moving from the UK...

Dave - that was my concern as well. Once you have signed then they (if they can "prove" a reduction in emissions from the road) can increase the rent at will. Of course you have the option to terminate the agreement but then you need to find a new apartment. I am a worrier and I think I may be overworrying in this case!

Richard - Thanks for your comments, what do you think about the reason for the extraordinary clause re emissions?

All things condiserd this is still an extremely nice apartment being offered at a reasonable price (20% more would, however, not be so reasonable).

Thanks for all the input

Well, yes there is actually. The emissions form the adjacent road...