Hi,
I seen depo in many threads however didn't found what I'm looking for .
Thing is - I left my apartment 2 months ago with 6'000 depo - now I can't find way to get it back , all I hear back from Livit Immobilien is that they haven't got a bill from painting company (I agreed to cover 10% of costs) and can't release it. Now - since painting should be around 2k CHF - I'd have to cover 200CHF ..

What you do with case like this one ?


I checked >>HHTP www.mieterverband.ch << and It's written that blocked amount should not exceed costs of repairs etc .. and 'depo' (part of it) should be returned after contract is closed.

However .. to have it back without agreement of Livit - it takes 12 months !!

Any ideas ?

cheers
hoover

Never rent from livit again we once rented from them, and they where just awful. I am sorry about your situation, and i hope they will return your money soon.

hey..dont worry...it would come soon..
6000 kaution??thats too much..
i never paid any kaution though till today..with my house rents..
cheers!

IIRC a deposit can be held for up to 1 year after leaving a property. This happed to us after leaving a place, the landlord finaly transfered the money to us about 2 days before the year was up.

We're waiting on a deposit back from Livit as well .... its been 6m and no joy. Everything was signed off and OK - they just keep saying its in the post....

If we do find a way of getting the money back quicker I'll let you know.

Has the painting been done already?

yes - there are new tenants already there .. with brand new walls ..
I read in the documents that when everything is returned with OK status - no repairs etc - they MUST return depo right away - I got catch by letting them to paint it .. should have ordered someone to paint and get money back !

Another part of the document I got from Mieterinnen- und Mieterverband
is that whenever costs of repairs are much lower to actual depo - depo should be paid back in part while remaining part would cover costs.

Not paying last few months of rental would be idea to get your depo back in time .. (by letting them to cover rental costs only)

Livit - is this really ‘Swiss; way of business ?

I have a friend who had to wait up to 6 months for her deposit to be refunded. She had lost one of two keys to the letterbox, and so the agency was holding onto the deposit because they had not yet received the invoice for the replacement key, which was about CHF 20. She offered to pay the CHF 20 in cash so she could have the deposit back, but the agency was playing hard-to-get. They also refused to follow up the invoice, saying that it was not their place to do so. In the end, she called the key-replacement business directly and asked them to issue the invoice, which was sent the following day. The deposit followed one month later, after my friend emailed and telephoned them every few days. I think the agent was just taking advantage of the fact that they can keep the deposit for up to 12 months.

I recommend that you keep pestering the agents until they have no choice but to get off their lazy butts and do something about your deposit ...

As for Livit ... never again for me either.

I rented from Livit in Nyon, and the pigeons bombarded my terrace
to put it politely. We cleaned it up multiple time, but the guy
came to inspect the apartment just after a couple of pigeons
left a few trinkets behind.

They wanted to take almost 5400 Francs for a bit of pigeon
sheit.

I fought them tooth and nail and only received 1500 Francs
back from them. They are terrible!!!!!!

Oh god.. I'm just about to enter into an rental with Livit. Are the other agencies so much better?

We are now renting from PSP they are really good. Livit never again.

That's email I sent couple days ago (along with fax copy).

" Thank you for your answer.

I have seen identical answer for last 30 days including one from you that did not make this case move forward at all !
Therefore I'm requesting your direct supervisor and management escalation to provided details which I expect.

I expect update on this case by today (12/March/2008) 15:30 .

I personally see no reasons to block 5'800 CHF where Livit is awaiting for any bills from 3rd parties. Since I have no influence nor I'm in direct obligations to 3rd party engaged by Livit - I see this as not directly related to deposit that is not released for two months (since apartment keys been given back to Mr, ------- - Hauswart )

Awaiting prompt response.

I case there is no progress I'll take legal actions to clarify this issue - for me this is unprofessional unacceptable behaviour of Livit !
"



Now - I got a call just 5 min ago as I asked again for managment escalation - now they told me that bill will be ready by 5pm today and sent today !! I wrote down name of persons I spoke with .. just for the record.





... now I know why I bought myself a house ..



It's like my friend use to say - first make sure Swiss person knows that your patience is over ,.. scream on the phone... and then you get what you want.

Same for us with Livit... 4500 CHF and it took 4 months to get... how annoying... and same excuse as well "bill from painter not arrived".

Only consolation was that money sits in an account with higher interes than normal ;-)

One clarification to the posts though: the 12 months limit after which you can get money back without their agreement is only valid provived they have no claim against you. If they have claims and you have not paid, you cannot get the money.

Inseldk, you never paid caution? Now where did you rent?

Good luck anyway, I am sure it will come as they cannot do much with money sitting in a blocked account... just annoying to have to fight for soemthing that belongs to you...

Ciao
Cristina

Interesting to hear that Livit has earned a bad reputation. Questions about the deposit and moving out in general regularly pop up in the forum, so you're not alone with your problems. By law a deposit can't be higher than three months rent. More information can be found with a search for "deposit". These threads are a good start:

Etat de lieu - Your Rights
Damage deposits on moving out
Apartment Deposit

Only consolation was that money sits in an account with higher interes than normal ;-)

One clarification to the posts though: the 12 months limit after which you can get money back without their agreement is only valid provived they have no claim against you. If they have claims and you have not paid, you cannot get the money.

-------

what is the interest rate for this account, generally speaking?

---------------------

that's really tough. How did you fight them and why did they hold so much of the deposit ?

Also, 5400 francs seems to be too high a deposit to pay.

The money is in an account in the name of the tennant, so it's not that.

It is standard procedure that the deposit is not release until the agency has been billed by anyone who has had to do work on the flat. This even includes replacing a lightbulb.

Sounds above board to me. It took me nearly 4 months to get my deposit back, from another agency, and all they had tp do was change the light in the kitchen extractor.

Once they had been billed for this, the deposit was released, I received a copy of the bill for the work done.

Suggest the following precautions:
1. Be a member of the Mieterverband (tenants association).
2. Get insurance to cover legal costs (Rechtsschutz Versicherung).

Thus you have some support if you are in a dispute with the landlord.

Ly

Wow! That's scary, 1 year to get your deposit back? Someone should put a sticky of bad landlords - so that newbies like me can avoid them.

Problem is you can't really do that... with the small number of flat available, if you start also picking your agency you will never find a flat ;-)

In the end you get your money back it is just a matter of a bit of pain and annoyance...

Cristina