Over the weekend, my husband and I were debating if we should have the Mieterverband come to the final checkout for the apartment or not.

On the one hand, our rights will be protected if we bring them. On the other hand, will that make the rental agency tougher and more apt to say "oh this is your fault" on the checkout?

We're with Livit, and in reading the check-in document, they just listed things as being "in order" or "old", so I'm not sure what kind of recourse we have if they do claim that we caused damage to things which were already damaged when we moved in. Hearing the horror stories here about Livit has made us nervous!

Please share!!! Im with Livit as well!!

On topic. If you do have them with you it wont hurt. I think they are very helpfull in situations like that.

I think that if you've been with the Mieterverband for the required time and have paid the subscription, you should use their services for all they're worth. Indeed I have heard a few Livit stories myself (such as a friend being told his extractor fan filter was disgusting, despite having been replaced the week and then not switched on)

Hopefully having the Mieterverband present wouldn't make the Livit rep tougher, but rather bring them down to an objective, fair and correct level.

If it says "in order" or "old", you should be ok, probably best to try the soft approach first, if this fails you can always get the artillery out later.

We had the Mieterverband represent us for our last move and no, it did NOT make things tougher, it helped smooth things over. Whenever the rental agent pointed something out the Mieterverband rep made a helpful suggestion or just helped explain things. Not being fluent in Swiss German, we found it very worthwhile.

If you have the slightest doubt that Livit will make your life like hell -then have the Mieterverband with you.

And make a point to have everything in writing with your signature and the one of Livit on whatever piece of paper or form they are using.

Try to find out with the Mieterverband the durability of something, e.g. for paint it's 5 years. So if the current paint is older than 5 years, they can't
make you pay for scratches and stains on the wall. Or how old the machines are etc.

Good Luck.

I would certainly recommend having the representative of the Mieterverband present when you hand over the appartment! They act as a catalyst and when we once moved made it easier. not tougher! One thing I remember was the landlady's complaint that we hadn't washed the garage door. There were one or two fingermarks on it! The man from the Mieterverband rubbed them off with his own fingers! Good luck with your move to UK.

YES!

NO question about it: have them there. They are your friend. Do not try to represent yourself in legally binding negotiations.

Thank you all for your replies, I think it is definitely best that we have them here for the walk through. My husband is Swiss, so speaks the local dialect fluently - but it still seems like the best thing to have the MV here to make sure things go smoothly. Especially since yesterday the hauswart came up to complain that some comics and magazines my husband left outside over the weekend as free for the taking were "all over the place and soaked with rain". I went downstairs an hour or so later and didn't see a single trace of any of the mess he described - everything was gone. My husband left to catch his flight back to the UK Sunday evening and 75% of what we left out was gone by then. That guy is probably going to be trouble...

Why does the complaining start only at move out time ?