Hello All

I have a clarification on the Rent decrease because of the decrease in the Mortgage rates.
I realized only in March that the Mortgage rates was decreased to 2.75%.
My Rental contract was based on 3.25% as per August 2009.I noticed this and wrote a letter to rental company ( in the standard format from Mieterverband website) on 16.3.2011. I got a repsonse from them on 20.3.2011 that they will revisit it in June 2011 as there are some changes expected and the rent change if applicable will be effective October 2011.

Now i got a letter saying that my rent will be reduced effective October 2011.I wanted to know whether i am eligible for a compensation for the months for whichi have already paid increased rent.

Any pointers on this will be helpful.
Thanks in advance.
Rgs

I believe you are not. Just like the owner cannot come to you and say that the rates rose a full year ago, so pay up, you cannot ask for them to retroactively "pay" you. It is your responsibility to ask for the rent decrease and the owner's to raise the rent. There is always a "notice" period, so even when rates rise again, it will take a few months to implement, probably similar to the 6 months it has taken them to implement the decrease for you.

So If I started renting at 3.5%, missed 3 or 4 decreases, for arguments sake, can I ask that the reduction is based on my rent when I first started renting the appt , or will they only deduct for the latest reduction in rates , and not for all the rate reductions that have occurred ?

Can anyone confirm whether today's announcement of lower interest rates by the SNB (Schweizernationalbank) will automatically lead to a lowering of the reference mortgage rate - and therefore a lowering of rents? *
Do we have to first wait for a separate announcement on mortgage rates?

* (if requested in writing to landlord and mentioned in the rental contract)

No. Yes.

Martin

Would the Referenzzinssatz sink any further in December ?

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...and down the rate goes again to 2.5%, as notified yesterday, 1st December (sorry, in German):
http://www.mieterverband.ch/fileadmi...nzzins_web.pdf

If your rental contract states that your rent is based on a reference rate greater than 2.5%, then there's a good chance you're entitled to a rent reduction as of 1st April 2012!

Mine is at 2.75%....Do we have to write a letter by the 31st of December?

Anyone know what the reduction is for a 1738 CHF rent?

The earlier you write, you earlier you'll benefit from a rent reduction -- IF your landlord decides to give you one. There are confounding factors that sometimes result in no discount.

Think of your application for a rent reduction as being like notice to quit your contract (because effectively, you're asking to make a new contract.) Therefore, if your contract allows you to serve three months' notice of termination only in the months of March, June and December (as some do), then the same applies to requests for a rent reduction (and the rent reduction will take effect three months later, i.e. on 1 July, 1 October or 1 April, respectively). If you don't write to request the reduction before 31 December, any reduction won't take effect until 1 May (if you're on an "any month will do to serve notice" type of contract) or even as late as 1 July if you're on a sucky old-style contract.

It's impossible to say how much your rent might reduce, due to the aforementioned confounding factors. I would expect around CHF 30 per month, based on your rent.

Get writing -- many landlords accept a simple two-line letter! (Mine acted on just a phone call last time, but wanted a letter this time.)

This would have been the chance for The Local to give some information that is relevant for most expats. Missed chance...

Does anyone know if it is valid for a landlord to deny a rent reduction, following 2 decreases in the reference rate, because their mortgage is fixed- rather than variable-rate? Can the tenant be made to pay the price of the landlord's interest rate bet going sour?

I'm certainly no expert, but my guess would be it that it all depends what is written in your contract, i.e. whether your rent is linked to the reference rate, and if so at what %.

If in doubt, the Zurich branch of the mieterverband would be your best port of call, to clarify the legal situation and assist you with any dispute or resulting arbitration.

Referenzzinssatz - Mietzinsreduktion / Mietzinsherabsetzungsbegehren ( quite a lengthy word - EN Rent Reduction Request ).

There are decent sample letters in the following link that one can customise:

http://www.law-news.ch/2010/12/mietz...tzinsreduktion

Word sample from Beobachter is here



Source: ( Federal Office of Housing )Officialdom

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Hi all,

I've been informed by a friend that we might be in title for a reduction on our rent due to the drop of the mortgage interest rate.
By Swiss law (apparently) means that if your rent is linked to the reference rate you could be due a discount. Some landlords do this automatically but it seems with the majority you have to make the request in writing.

Has someone already done it?
Does someone have any further informations?

By the way, this hold be the letter to make the request:

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren
Den Medien konnten wir entnehmen, dass der Referenzzinssatz für Hypotheken gesunken ist. Wir ersuchen Sie höflich, unsere Nettomiete auf den nächsten Kündigungstermin entspre-
chend zu reduzieren und dabei auch allfällig noch nicht weitergegebene frühere Hypothe- karzinssenkungen zu berücksichtigen. Gleichzeitig bitten wir Sie um eine entsprechende schriftliche Bestätigung innert 30 Tagen.
Sollten Sie unserem Herabsetzungsbegehren nicht oder nur teilweise entsprechen können, bitten wir Sie, uns Ihre Gründe innert der gleichen Frist mitzuteilen.
Freundliche Grüsse

I wrote in Dec to our rental company more of less what you wrote in German and we got the reduction (starts as of April 1st). Good luck!

Good on you! It seems like it takes a while for reduced interest rates to reduce the reference interest rate and subsequently reduce rents.

I doubt many landlords would have locked in for 5+ years at 3.5%+ and i'm sure many don't even have mortgages. Does anyone know if landlords that don't have a mortgage are allowed to state a reference interest rate on their contracts? That would be so unfair!

I don't see why. Why should a landlord be penalised by the way he or she finances their investment? On that logic, the less careful a landlord who borrowed badly, would be able to charge a higher rent.

It is though a wicked system that allows rents to legally rise when the Interest rates go up, but when they go down, reductions have to be demanded. You will also find the reduction for say 1/2% drop will never be as large as the rise for the same move upwards in rates...

I agree. It takes all the interest rate risk out of being a landlord with a mortgage. ..and they can still increase rents because the reference rate increases - even when they don't have a mortgage.

i don't like this system at all. tenants should agree and pay a certain rent and the landlord should bear the risk of IR fluctuations. it seems crazy to me that tenants are responsible for repairs, ir risks and depreciation. they might as well buy!

Situation for a friend:

The apartment has been rented for around 5 years and during this time the rent was increased once due to an increase in the reference rate.

Since the rate has been decreased several times, with no corresponding adjustment to the rent, my friend wrote to the LL and requested a rent reduction in Q1 2012.

The LL has refused so far and said it was too late to reduce rent and they must wait until Oct 2012 and then see what the rates are and if they are increased or decreased.

Anyone know what the legal position is?

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