How to reclaim your rental guarantee
When renting an apartment, you usually have to establish a bank deposit, which is also called a rental guarantee. This deposit usually amounts to 3 months of rent and is blocked in a bank account. It is intended to enable the landlord to restore the apartment in the event of damage, or to cover the costs when the tenant has not fulfilled his rental obligations (unpaid rent or charges). When and how can the rental guarantee be reclaimed in Switzerland?
RECLAIM YOUR RENTAL GUARANTEE DURING THE TERM OF THE LEASE
If you have already established a bank deposit, you can easily reclaim it thanks to SwissCaution. All you need to do is apply for your rental guarantee without bank deposit online, in a post office or in one of the Swiss Mobiliar’s agencies. As soon as your certificate has been issued, you will simply have to ask your landlord to release your bank deposit. This will allow you to get back your blocked money and dispose of it freely.
INTERNET IS THE FASTEST METHOD.
Register online and receive your rental guarantee without bank deposit immediately.
Find other ways to register by following this link:
REFUND OF YOUR RENTAL GUARANTEE AT THE END OF THE LEASE: WHAT ARE THE RULES?
If the rental guarantee has been deposited in a bank account for the entire rental period, the landlord will issue you a written refund confirmation no later than 12 months after the end of the lease, enabling you to release your rental guarantee.
This confirmation allows you to get your deposit back from the bank. It should be noted that in the absence of a written refund confirmation, the bank may wait up to one year in order to verify that the landlord has not initiated any legal proceedings against you. The bank will usually ask you to provide a copy of the departure inventory and a termination letter of your lease before releasing your deposit.
WHAT ARE THE DEADLINES FOR REFUNDING THE RENTAL GUARANTEE?
In the event of unpaid damages, rents or charges and if the landlord considers it necessary to restore the apartment, the deadline for refunding the deposit is 12 months. This period is granted to the landlord to collect the invoices related to the repair work. You will then receive the remaining amount of your rental guarantee. It is therefore in the tenant’s interest to take proactive measures to quickly and easily recover the rental guarantee deposit.
The apartment must therefore be scrupulously cleaned before handing it over, otherwise, the landlord will have the cleaning carried out at your expense. You must have carried out the various repairs that are legally incumbent on tenants, i.e. the routine maintenance work on the apartment. These are generally referred to in the lease or its appendices. You must also have respected the specific terms of your lease, if any.
