This might sound stupid, and is by no means used to show off, but can it sometimes be worth lying - in a positive way - about your income when applying for an apartment?

In other words, I'm afraid that stating my actual salary can have a negative effect on my apartment hunt, and was therefore thinking about writing down a lower amount. To make it a little bit more clear, the apartments I'm applying for are in the CHF 2000-2500 price range, while my gross income is quite above the CHF 120K "Quellensteuer" limit.

Help in what sense? That they are sorry for you and lower the rent?? I don't think so

May work against you - they may think that you can't afford the rent (too big a proportion of your take home pay) so it would count against you

can't get the logic behind it.

Didnt effect us using the real amounts

On one hand you would think that an agent is only happy if it's clear someone can afford the rent. On the other hand however, they could think it would be more "ethical" to give an apartment to someone with a lower income, as I would possibly be able to look in a higher price range.

the landlord/lady seeks for minimal risk. Someone with a good revenue and matching all other criteria would have a priority for me. I'm not sure many of the landlords have such a social streak.

It may indeed work for you as some agents have a social conscience, and indeed some Gemeinde-related properties have strict rules about income levels. I visited an appartment a few years ago and was about to fill in an application form, but decided not to when I saw many other applicants were filling in less than half my gross salary on the form (it was a very busy, public viewing). You have to decide for yourself if shafting poorer people so you can get a deal sits easily with your moral code

What will you show if you have to prove your monthly income ? I dont know if it always happens but I had to provide proof of income to my last 2 landlords.

btw.. Lots of people with income well above the 120K limit have apartments in (or even below) the 2000-2500 range.....

Deliberately lying on an application form is not a good idea. At the bottom of most forms you sign a declaration that says the above information is true. When the agency calls your employer to verify your income ( and most do) they will no doubt discover the discrepancy and they will reject your application.

Think what you would look for if you were a landlord:

A tenent that pays. The higher the salary the more likely the rent will be paid.
Someboy on a higher salary may well have a profession and be a better tenent.

A large deposit. Security for default

Correct!!

Why would not declaring your actual salary increase your chance of getting a place. There are many factors that influence whether you get an apartment, I'm pretty sure however that money isn't it.

Probably lying is not such a good idea.

I just had a look at an apartment of +/- CHF 2400 a month, and I was far from the only visitor. Guess it indeed wouldn't hurt stating my actual income.

Furthermore (but not relevant to this topic), the agent wants a original copy of my Betreibungsauskunft. Hope I'll get it back.

Leaving aside the ethical issues of lying, I could only see two practical benefits of stating a lower income.

When looking for an apartment:
- Some Genossenschaftswohnungen or state-owed apartments may have maximal income limits in order to be eligible. Earn too much and you are ineligible.

When trying to get out of your apartment
- If you want to get out of your apartment earlier, you will need to find a Nachmieter with similar characteristics. If you've low-balled your income, you can also present Nachmieter with lower incomes...

But with all the legal issues that crop up with lying (e.g. a possible immediate termination of the lease), I would not advise it.

The agent will probably want to hold on to it as long as he is searching for an apartment for you. Generally it is less hassle to get two originals when your at the office.

But if you are looking at apartments to the tune of 2400/month, I do not think the CHF 17 for the Betreibungsauskunft should be too much of a concern.

Might not apply to you as you may have more luck (certainitly seems that way if only one person turned up to the house viewing!) but i ended up getting 10 "original" copies of the Betreibungsauskunft (credit reference). Getting the duplicates (still originals) is cheaper than getting one at each time. still a rip off at 4fr for a scribble and stamp on a printed piece of paper but saves you money and time in the long run. I got about 50% of my credit references back but by the time I got them back they were getting towards being out of date (normally only accepted up to 3 months after printing).

With the original question I would recommend telling the truth about your salary (although I can understand your logic to a certain extent). I found that they normally checked the details provided on the form, much more so than in other countries.

The agent I meant is actually the agent that is searching for a new tenant for the apartment I visited earlier.

In this land of confidentiality, I'd be surprised if a landlord has a right to know your income. They do, however, have a reasonable cause to contact your employer, set out the rent, ask a few questions and see if the employer has any comments to make. Something of a gentleman's agreement, if you will, rather than knowing the exact amount. I'm sure Landlords try their luck on the application forms asking for your salary and filter out those who write "none of your business". Same goes with Religion declaration

Our first relocation agent made a big fuss about not looking for a too cheap apartment that annoyed me (I think she was just trying to make her job easier). She had a theory that landlords would rather give the apartment to a more deserving (i.e. has fewer options) candidate as long as some minimum income standard was met (rent should = 40% of salary and by no means less than 30%!!). In the end we didn't use her.

You can always say on your form ">120 000" or "120 000+" which would not be lying.

When we applied for our apartment we had to provide a copy of my husbands employment contract (with salary details).

Putting down a lower salary than you actually earn will have your application discounted immediately. And rightly so.

We were advised that there is a specific ratio for salary to rent. If you apply for something too low or too high you won't get the property. This makes it much fairer for those on lower wages in such a difficult rental property market and doesn't allow someone earning 200'000 chfs a year to rent a property for 1'000 chf a month (as an extreme example).

I know of others in the 150- 190'000 chf salary range who have successfully rented properties for 2'500 to 3'000 chf a month.