We rented a house for 3 years, while we where renting it the owners decided to sell it, as it was old, and has major structural problems we didn't want to buy it!! anyway it eventually sold and the new owners (turkish) decided they wanted to live in it, all well and good so far, we found a new place in the same village and asked if we could leave before the 3 months notice was up, they agreed.

So we moved and in the mean time fully repainted the house, cleaned it top to bottom, fixed things that where broken when we moved in etc etc basically left it in much better condition then when we moved in.

We did a handover to the new owners, they said they where happy and would give us our (rather large) deposit back, but they didn't know how, so we phoned the bank, they explained we needed to print off a form and get them to sign, again all's well, they said they would do it.

Fast forward a week and still no sign of the form from them, so we printed it off and dropped it round.

Fast forward 3 more days, no form, so we call them "We havn't got the form yet" we pionted out we dropped it round to his wife 3 days previously.

So we then walked down to them (they live about 2 mins away from our new place), now he changes his story, says his accountant needs to sign it !?!?! and we'll have it by registered post today, well guess what, postie has been and still no form.

So what happend now? we gave the house back spotless, yet this idiot seems intent on stopping me getting my deposit back, its been nearly 2 weeks since we handed back the house, and its been empty all this time.

What can we do?

As a footnote, the agency we rented it through originally washed there hands of it as soon as it was sold.

I did have a deposit account in my bank account, which I couldn't touch, I did go through an agency, but it did take 3 months to get it back.

Up to a year is "permitted". Have you sent the form by Registered mail?

no, we delivered it by hand

Was there any mention of this in the contract? Was there any proof of payment of deposit?

This is most unconventional.

yes the deposit is in a proper deposit account (eg he has NO access to it), all he has to do is sign the form. We paid it to the original agents, who then signed it over to him when he bought the house.
He cannot access the money, and has said the house is ok, so for whatever reason is just being awkward.

When we first met them we got the feeling they where going to be royal PITA which is why we repainted the whole house, they bought the house without seeing inside, so couldn't see all the structural issues the place has, they only saw inside once the deal was done, all very strange, I wouldn't be shelling out nearly 1m francs on a place I had only seen from the outside!!

It doesn't sound like you have anything to worry about. It sounds above board and you normally expect the process of the release of the deposit to take longer than the 2 weeks you have been waiting.

I think it's way too early to start worrying.

There might be some worthy reading in these posts...

Mietzins-Depot - Landlord Refuses to Release
Deposit for flat rental [problems getting it back]
Damage deposits on moving out

it took just over a year to get our deposity back ( Any excuse. Their main complaint, was losing letters. The it was joint vs single bank accounts, people on holiday etc. We finally lost our rag and threatened legal action, got on the phone more or less every day and hey presto......

If this goes on for too long you should maybe be talking to a lawyer.

A letter from a lawyer can sometimes work wonders, even if the content of theat letter is the same as what you could have written yourself. On the other hand, if there is a genuine mix-up and their intentions are good, you may be messing things up for yourself, so be careful.

Been there, seen it done it!! Last month....

Here is my recommendation..and it worked for us.

Write the landlord a registered letter giving him one week to return the signed paper to you. Say in the letter that if he does not comply you will file a motion with the Schlichtungsbehörde für Mietwesen (Mediator for rental issues).

If he doesn't comply, file a motion with the Schlichtungsbehörde explaining the situation and asking for the signed paper. It is free of charge and you don't need a lawyer. It is generally enough to get a landlord off his butt....

If you are member of the Mieterverband they will help you. If you aren't you will have to do it yourself. It isn't difficult.

If you need some more help PM me. We have been to the Schlichtungsbehörde twice (successfully).

Thanks for that, will give this a try, he is now not taking our calls still no form, and his family are being rude over the phone, just made grunting noises to my wife when she asked for him!!!

There is somthing seriously wrong with this guy!! apparently he owns a chain of pizza delivery places, I don't think I'll be using them again.

I don't think there is any mix up, He said everything was fine with the house but he didn't have the form to sign it, he now has at least 2 of the forms but just wont sign / return them, no explination, no complaint he just fobs us off, no form, accountant needs to sign, its in the post, not in, suddenly can't speak german etc etc

when we left the house we gave them the light fittings, about 500chf of heating oil, hose pipe, wheelie bin etc as we didn't need them, nothing was signed (suprise suprise) it was just verbal eg we don't need this stuff, its yours if you want it, seriously considering sending them a bill for it all now.

How can you send him a bill for something he never signed for?

Once you have written the registered letter allowing him the week to sign and return the forms it would be better to refrain from contacting him personally, otherwise he may just dig in his heels.

It is unusual to get back a deposit in a very short space of time as unfair as this seems.
Good luck.

Like the previous writers, we left our house in Knonau in May 2011. When we handed the property over the landlord and his agent said everything is fine. We even found new tennents for him and they are now living in the property.

Now 9 months on we still have not received our deposit. I have communicated with the landlord on several occassions and have sent him the bank form. He keeps saying it will be dealt with in the next couple of weeks....but alas nothing!

Any ideas?

As already stated you have to wait up to 12 months.

The reason being is to give the owners / agency, enough time to produce the final calculation, and present you with a bill for the remaining Nebenkosten. But why this needs longer than 3 months I cannot say.

Yes this is correct. We waited for 12 months because the moron did not do the 'final calculations'.

This is not always the case. I have dealt with situations where the tenants received their deposit back in full even though the final bill for the nebenkosten would not be available for months.

I have also had situations where a portion of the deposit was released pending the final Nebenkosten bill.

The fact is, as a tenant paying NK on account, that final bill is just the actual vs. what has been paid on account. It is also possible that the landlord owes the tenant money! (though unlikely after the cold winter we are having).

This is correct what you say if the person is doing it the right way. But the 1 yr law means that the owner is doing nothing illegal.

OK, I think some confusion here.

The refund of the deposit is due immediate!
- IN CASE THERE ARE (filed) DAMAGES, then the landlord has the right to withhold the deposit up to 3 months until all bills from involved laborers are paid (received). otherwise immediate release of the funds.

It is illegal to keep the funds on his own accounts. The landlord HAS TO DEPOSIT these funds on a escrow account. The tenant has the right to choose the bank if he wants to!

If the landlord doesn't pay back the deposit and the tenant did not file ANY legal law suit, the bank WILL release the money after one year (means, the landlord can not claim for damage any longer) and will not require the OK from the landlord to release the funds. You need proof of the termination and the damage report to do so.
Supporting source: http://www.mieterverband.ch/fileadmi...tzinsdepot.pdf

Every canton has a "Schlichtungsbehörde" this is free of charge and they are really tenant friendly. They are in charge for any issue between landlord and tenants. If you don't like their outcome, you can challenge their decision in a civil court. However, this will not be free of charge anymore and will have cost of court and lawyer involved. The party that looses the case, pays. it could also be a 60/40% or 30/70% decision possible.

-Watch out: There is also a thing called "Schlichtungsstelle" they are a different department and are rather an intermediator then a court.

The deposit has nothing to do with the "Nebenkosten" and can not held as deposit for underpaying the NK. The landlord can however wait until the end of the year for the final bill of the NK. The deposit is purely to secure loss of income for unpaid rent and damages left unpaid. You are in exchange not aloud to "make a living out", you have to pay the rent up to the last month.

We have two (legal) ways in Switzerland to charge for the "NK"
1 pauschal (general), I charge a fix price, if fuel price lowers, I win, if fuel price rises , I loose as a landlord, but the accounting is easier.
2 as used, means, I charge (forward) the effective cost. No profit allowance on NK!!!

The landlord can not charge you for the heating of the coming season if you leave in spring or summer! Also: this bill can be challenged by the "Schlichtungsbehörde" if you believe it is wrongly made. Cases like: he is filling the Tank December and makes a 28'000.-/12months/9tenants!!