Hello,

It is now 10 days since I move out of my old flat in Zurich and I gave the keys back to the landlady. That day she did not look so unhappy about the flat condition (she only pointed out a couple of stupid details).

I still don't have the deposit money in my bank account. Should I ask her? Should I wait longer? How long is the normal?

She can hold it up to one year. My ex-landlady hold it and waited for the utilities bills.... And kept waiting and waiting.....

When the year passed, we called the Bank and told them to release the deposit. They had to tell her so they send her a letter (she didn't change her address with the bank so she never received the letter) and we got the money back in our account after 1 year and 2 weeks.

wowwww, more than a year?

My case is different as the flat rent included everything (electricity....). There is no bills to come. And we did not have a bank account for a deposit. I gave to her the money in cash the day she gave me the keys of the flat (3 years ago). I have a paper with her signature that say she has the money.

So, I will not expect a year of waiting.

If I am non wrong, by law she has to put the money in a bank account that both names are on. This is to protect BOTH of you. At the end, if you get the full deposit back, you get the interests as well...

If there is a bank account with my name I should know...I do not think she put my name in any account. So, that's mean she is against law? Should I ask her what happen with my deposit?
I can ask nicely, then If I get all money back no problem, but if not...

When I moved to Zurich I stayed for a couple of months in one of those serviced apartment and I had a similar situation: paid the deposit, which was not put in a bank account.

I did get it back but had to wait over two months.

And why is the reason of waiting 2 months???

Did you got it full?
Can I know where did you stay? maybe the same place, hehe.

Have you seen this thread?
how long to get deposit back

Normally it would take a more than 30 days, for them to cross check on any dues (the next bill cycle) Also due to the fact that they wait for the 15 days period given to the next tenant to escalate any issues/damages in the flat that went unnoticed during the handover.

After they have it all clear, they usually send you a form asking your bank account etc, and then it takes 1 week or so to do the transfer (this has been the normal procedure with those big rental agencies, aka prestige,livit,epm etc )

Send her a registered letter instructing her where to pay the money and give her 30 days to pay. If she doesnt , put her in Poursuite (i dont know what the swiss german equivalent is)

let's hope she doesn't say "deposit? what deposit?"

i suggest you speak to her first and to see if she'll had over the cash straight away.

Its only been 10 days - legally she can hold it up for a year. From what Ive read about the experiences on here, its an average of 2-3 months.

However, with your situation of the bills being included, the only thing she needs to assess are the damages (if any). Has the flat been taken over by a new tenant? I'll give it two more weeks before calling and asking her hows everything, and when you can pop over to collect your deposit back.

Yes I got it in full and never understood why I had to wait so long, also considering that I lived in the flat for just two months.

I did call and visit the guy in charge a few times, to push for getting the money back. Maybe you should wait a bit longer then contact them.

I don't remember exactly the name of the agency, I'll look for it and if I find it (or if I find the address of the apartments) I'll let you know by PM.

Yes, a new tenant is already living in the flat. I will wait a couple of weeks.
This is just strange for me as in th UK I always got the money back as soon as I leave the apprtment. Swiss...

yes. i have no idea why they want to hold onto the deposit for a full year. though my ex got her deposit back straight away. she told them to bring the deposit at the time of checkout and got it when they checked the apartment and got the keys back.

I got mine back from my previous landlord in 10 days and I thought that was a record!

well, put the good name up on the forum then !

I would but he took back the flat and is now living in it. He only rented it out for that specified time period as he went on a sailing trip around the world.

My husband call me to tell me that we have recieved a letter from my ex landlady telling us about our deposit. He only mention briefly on the phone. I will post more details when I have the letter with me.
But my husband told me she will give us only around 500CHF back.
She deducted more than 1100CHF for damages and things like that. He told me the biggest amouns is 300CHF for some floor damage (What???) eight hours of cleaning (what perfectly clean! even for Swiss standards and is a 35 m2 appartment, can not take that long anyway!) and look like there was 20CHF for our keller rent (separtly) for March. We move out in february!!!!!
It was a very old appartment with already many damages!! We been so good tenants for 3 years!! We leave the appartment perfect!!! And now she come back with this???
I am so piss off. Now Seyon power motion is active. What can I do to fight her?

You can tell her to talk to your private liability insurance (if you have one). They should cover the repair costs (but not the cleaning).