I would like information regarding adding a person to the contract of an apartment. I have heard from friends that some gerances reject the request to add a collocateur in the contract. I would like to share my apartment with my boyfriend and I am wondering about the following:
1. Can a gérance reject to add a collocateur in the contract?
2. If yes then how the person that is not in the contract will prove that he/ she legally lives there?
3. What if one day the person that is in the contract decides not to pay the rent, or leave the country or die? Will the gérance kick out of the apartment the second person although they are the ones who rejected to add him/ her in the contract?
Yes. If they think adding another person puts the accommodation over the “Swiss standard” then they can reject having another person living there. The general rule is one bedroom less than the number of people using the accommodation. So two people may not be allowed for a studio for example, while a one-bed place is fine. Obviously it’s not a hard and fast rule. A couple living in a one-bed place who then have a baby will still be fine accommodation-wise for the first few years, but once the child is older it’s expected that it will have it’s own separate bedroom so they would need to move to a 2-bed place. It also depends on the canton and commune/gemeinde and what they consider to be acceptable.
If they’ve been rejected then they’re not living there legally are they.
Yes they could. They have no contract with the remaining person and that person has no right to be living there in the first place.
Be very careful - there are 2 ways to do this. You can remain the main rentor, or he can become co-rentor - it makes a big difference in case things do not work out as planned.
Are you a member of Asloca, the rentors association? It is not expensive- and you can go and talk to their experts about the 2 kind of contracts and the pros and cons. It is really worth it and they would be there to support you too, if anything goes wrong at any stage.
2. By living somewhere else as he is not allowed to live with you.
3. If you and your boyfriend live together (and in that case both MUST be in the contract) you owe the rent solidary, meaning if one butts out the other just has to pay the rent.
Second part of question 3 doesn't make sense as rejected person is not supposed to live there!?!
1. There is no question of space, it is a 2 room apartment, spacious enough for 2 people!
2. If the gérance is aware of the collocation but rejects the request to be transparent and add all collocateurs in the contract without any justification, aren't they liable?
Is there any regulation on the above?
I have subscribed to ASLOCA and waiting for an appointment with them!
First of all I have not requested anything yet. I am about to contact the gérance because my boyfriend wants to move in with me!
I would just like some advice before I do so because I know from friends cases that the gérance was informed that a couple- both Swiss- lives together but rejected to modify the contract in order to add the second person. No justification was provided to my friends neither the gérance told them not to live together.
Thanks,
Nina
Liable for knowing that 2 people live together but rejecting the request to add the second person in the contract without any obvious reason and justification. Especially in case the second person provided to the gérance all the documentation to be added to the dossier and the gérance responded that they received the request, but they do not wish to change the contract.
If they reject adding the boyfriend to the contract, I guess they just want to deal with one tenant.
The boyfriend is therefore considered your lodger = your responsitility.
If you run away they will go after you and yes - he doesn't have a contract and therefore either has to ask to take it over then or move out.
If he runs away nothing changes for them.
If you're worried he will run away, you can make a separate contract between the two of you.
If you informed the landlord that Mr. xy lives with you now and the flat is big enough (which it obviously is) he can put his name on the mailbox.
When you go talk to them, go with a positive attitude, they will pick up on strange vibes
By the way, if things don't work out with your boyfriend, you might be glad to be the only tenant as otherwise you could lose boyfriend and home at the same time
I see your point about boyfriends running away :-) But also married couples might get a divorce and everything can happen in life in general!
But the gérance cannot predict any of the above to reject a request, nor oblige the second person to live "illegally" in an apartment, nor reject modifying the contract without a justification. Contracts have one section for the Locateur and one for the Collocateur.
Plus I know people that live together 3 or 4 persons in huge apartments and every time one of the collocateurs is moving out and a new is coming, the gérance is always ok to modify the contract and add them all!
Hence I am surprised of the variety of cases and wondering if there is a regulation or a way for collocation to be transparent and fair for all!
The 3 or 4 person place is probably a "Wohngemeinschaft" and declared as such.
If married, in Switzerland now both partners MUST be in the contract. With unmarried couples as far as I know not but I'm not even sure about that. I just take that from the example you gave further up.
Are you trying to convince ME?
I think you're worrying about "unlaid eggs".
I gave you all the info I could give you for the moment. If you have results you don't like = new info I might be able to give you more.
Best take your boyfriend to the appointment, as he wants in on the contract.
There is not about law enforcement! It's about the right of someone to be in the contract of the apartment he/ she lives! And based on what rule a gérance déclinés to amend the contract to reflect the reality!
"The easiest way is for (the boyfriend) to move in without changing the lease. As a "life partner" (Lebenspartner), he can move in with his girlfriend without the consent of the landlord. The landlord only needs to be informed about the changed situation."
And if the accommodation isn’t considered large enough by Swiss standards by the landlord/agency/commune/gemeinde? What then?
ninach, it also depends on what your nationality is and what Swiss permit you hold. If you’re both non-EU it’s not going to be easy for you to get a dependent’s permit for your bf. As an unmarried couple you have to agree to be financially responsible for him for 5 years. And I believe with a “concubine” permit - which is what the hetrosexual unmarried permit is called here - your bf wouldn’t be allowed to work. The financial assurance and the non-working will also apply if you’re an EU national and he’s a non-EU. If you’re both EU nationals you still have to give the financial assurance, but I think he could work since he’d be able to get an independent permit if he finds a job.
So I'm not a lawyer...but I don't think he gets a "right" to live there, much less a "right" be listed on the contract because he's decided he wants to move in.
AFAIK, the landlord decides who gets to rent the flat, not the other way around. Rejecting him on the contract doesn't "oblige him to live there illegally".
Guess they could reject him in the contract but not living with her (unless he's here illegally but even that is non of their business, they would just have to get the foreign-police involved).
They don't get to chose who she gets involved with, procuring is illegal here
a) It is my business who is living in my property. Not because I am sticking my nose in other peoples's business, but because I have legal liabilities.
b) It's absolutely my business if an illegal person is staying in my property. If I am aware of it but don't take action am I pretty surely breaking the law.
c) Every landlord on the planet wants to make sure his property is doing fine. When you rent from him do you pay him for the usage. In order to come up with the price tag does that landlord assume an average use for the property. If suddenly twice as many people live there can one expect twice as much signs of usage, tear and wear.... so yes, it's absolutely my business if more people live in my place than agreed in the contract. Yes, even if this person has a residence permit and is an all-around nice boyfriend. So yes, I can absolutely reject additional people living in my property. I won't be able to physically stop them, but if the renter has people living there permanently can I, after due notice and legal process, kick her out for breach of contract. The Swiss legal code is extremely biased towards renter, but I am sure this does not change the principle, only makes it a longer process.