Hi,
I just moved to a new flat as a long term Untermieter, I just found out that I'm paying for half of the whole apartment rent, when there are 4 people living there!

What are my legal options in this case? Of course I can give my 3 month notice, or find another dupe to take over the apartment, but I thing the right thing to do would be to make these s**ts pay.

The did the same to one of the other flatmates, and after she confronted them reduced the rent a bit to 1/3 of the total rent.

Would getting a lawyer make sense? Should I try to talk to the owner (seems to be a bank)?
If not, I'm thinking of calling the police on the owner's little THC weed operation, and/or unsanitary restaurant,

Anyone here had to deal with anything similar?

To be clear, there are 4 bedrooms, and mine is the smallest. The price I'm paying is in the upper part of the normal range for the area.

You signed a contract for a home and you were happy with the price, presumably, when you signed.

Nope. No scam. Nice profit for the main tenant. Is there any specific reason why you need to know how much rent the main tenant pays? Nor why he/she shouldn't sublet their home for a profit

You are meant to attach the original rental contract to a sublet. Also one of the conditions of sublet is that the contract owner does not make a big profit. So a few things went amiss here....

OP - do you have the sublet authorization from the apartment owner? If not the sublet may not be legal.

Mietverband is the way to go!

K

One thing I would do is find out if the owner KNOWS that the guy is subletting and for what price!

All I have is a sublet contract.
The other flatmate who paid too much sent me photos of the contract for the apartment.

I will talk to MV on Monday, and then probably to the owning company.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the advice!

Imagine how fun it would be if the owner had no idea ...

I feel your frustration- but there is nothing illegal in what they did. You did not ask the questions- and you agreed to the terms and price they stated. You can discuss this with them, and say you'd like to stay but feel the rent needs to be adjusted. And they can agree, or not ...Bonne chance.

I would recommend going with these questions to ZH Mietverband. Just become a member and get a professional legal advise, it is not expensive.

https://www.mieterverband.ch/mv/miet...am-wohnen.html

About the price: there may be something illegal going on, but discovering it would require to see certain papers (your sub-rental contract, the main rental contract, the regulations for your house - for example, if the WG in located in any sort of price regulated property).

Also, a basic recommendation would be to approach this issue with a cold head. Getting rid of the Hauptmieter (that is what I assume you want to achieve by reporting him to authorities) may or may not be a good idea in your situation, and it will certainly be a stressful journey, so one shall be prepared before going down this road.

According to the law a sub-tenant has the same rights as the main tenant.

https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2...8/chap_3/lvl_E

So you can complain about unfair rent within 30 days of taking on the let.

Also the landlord can object to unfair rent:

https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2...8/chap_1/lvl_K

Since you have the same rights and can make the landlord's life difficult they have some incentive to sort this out.

Thanks newtowitz!
The 30 days mark will be in a couple of days. Is it "business days" or including weekends and holidays? Who should I complain to and how? (i.e. do I need to send an express official letter?)

30 calendar days, though if ending on weekends that may affect (extend) that a bit.

See the map on the right side of this page for which SchlichtungsBehörde is the one responsible for your area. Personally, I'd call first to ensure it's the right one, and ask for directions on how to proceed (is email usable, or does it have to be mail or registered mail?) plus applicable time limits/dates. And is it Ok to send incomplete data, e.g. with the form linked below missing? Does the minimum contract duration, if any, mentioned in the contract apply?

Is your room furnished? Basically, bed+wardrobe+table+one chair provided by the renter means it's furnished. In that case your notice period should be much shorter.

Talking about entire unfurmished apartments only, the main renter can't let for more than 10% of his rent, and the owner must have been informed about the sublet and the conditions applied.
Not sure how partial rents are calculated, but I'd expect each renter's private space/area to be the determinant factor, also worth enquiring.

I believe the main tenant must have handed you this form filled out. Given it's a sublet, I wouldn't be surprised if you're also entitled to know how much everybody else pays, you need that to determine how everyone's share is calculated. It looks like there's no way around handing the form to the (new) subrenter, i.e. to you. Failing to do so may extend the 30 day limit mentioned above, another thing worth enquiring with your SchlichtungsBehörde when you call them.

Oh, and of course he has no business being in your room, or use anything that's yours, including your cabinet. In theory simply forbidding him doing it again should do, but in practice it's advisable that you can prove your doing so. If it's mentioned in your contracts as yours, that should be proof in and of itself (also worth confirming with the SchlichtungsBehörde).

And yes, Mieterverband membership is strongly recommended. You may also want to ask them how much it costs to have a representative of theirs on the spot.

Good luck.

ETA:
If the SchlichtungsBehörde finds that the rent is excessive, in my experience a reduction is retroactive and apply to the entire duration of the contract.

If the room is furnished, the notice period is 2 weeks only, for the end of the month.

The rules for renting a furnished room are totally different- but even so, the owner of the property has to be informed and give official consent.

Is the second half of the rent devided by the other three?

"How high can the sub-rent be?
In principle, the main tenant may not make any profit from the sublet. The amount of the sublease is usually calculated based on the proportion of living space used. Costs for electricity, water or fees can also be charged proportionally. In the case of a furnished apartment, the surcharge may not exceed 20 percent. If the sub-rent is higher, the landlord can prohibit his main tenant from sub-letting. For information: In a federal court ruling, surcharges of 30 percent were classified as improper."

https://www.comparis.ch/immobilien/r...ertrag-schweiz

Thanks for answers guys.

I will talk to the Mieterverband and keep a cool head.

One of the main tenants is also a flatmate, and the other main tenant used to live in the room that I live in now, and used to pay 10% of the rent for it (according to the other flatmate who paid too much). As a flatmate, he's pretty terrible as well, which is surprising. You would expect him to be extra nice if he's milking me and wants me to stay there for long.

The outcome that I'm hoping for is get my money back and find another place.

Good luck and come back to tell us of the outcome.

Did you ever sign a contract?

If your conscience tells you to report a crime just do it. Using this as a blackmail material is unlikely to solve any of your issues.

You are right, that's a little hot-headed.