I just moved into a new apartment. It looks like the landlord is worst than I thought.
He did a list of the defects that were existing in the apartment (the protocol) but he did not took any pictures. After I moved I discovered also other defects that were not written in that protocol:
- a crack in the bathroom sink
- excessive wear on the kitchen faucet. It is barely working.
- a missing part of the sunshade.
Before the two weeks period after moving in I put those all in an email (with pictures) and send them to him.
He answered late and told me that he want to come see the defects. He agreed that he missed all defects except for the sink crack .
I showed him that the crack is long and yellow and that it looks old but he still wants to put this on me by saying that the crack was not there during the handover.
I am still in the 30 days period. Does it help if send him the list with the defects also in a registered letter? Or what do you think is best to do?
PS. He also said to me that the sink was recently replaced but I see on the protocolo that it mentions:
According to this https://www.tfj.ch/mietvertrag-wohnu…uertabelle.pdf a wash basin has a lifetime of 35 years.
If you do nothing, then on leaving you’d, on leaving, have to pay a maximum of the unexpired portion of its lifetime.
I’d also consider something I had installed in 12.2013 as ‘recent’.
You’d be well advised also to ensure that you have insurance which covers 3rd party liability.
sounds like he's really trying to take advantage of you and hoping you'll pay for the damage. As Susie said, the Mieterverband should help you out.
Did he say the sink was recently replaced via email? I would not tell him that you've seen the lavabo installation date just yet. Let him dig himself a hole by catching him in his lie in writing if possible.
Ok I hadn't considered that the lifetime of a sink could be so long. But still, to say a 9 year old sink was installed recently is still a stretch, no?
I guess the MV is busy and it will take a while for them to answer. I still have several days until the 30 days period is gono. So I wrote here maybe I get a faster answer.
Judging by EF standards notion of "recent law change" were things from early 2000ies and even further back are considered as recent. Yes, this is pretty recent.
They can't do much really other than advising you and support you with writing letters. Mind you, in my case (damage clearly caused by construction builders) their advice was for me to simply "stop fighting the big real estate agency" and have my insurance pay for it after they had offered to do so.
For OP involving legal insurance would be more useful to have the landlord back off. Will probably not take more than one letter.
Please don't do things like these by email. Email has no teeth. The registered letter is the weapon of choice in Switzerland. It makes things "official" and if you complain within your 30 days by registered letter, you should be in the clear by any law.
It's 10 days after protocol not 30 days. Intitle your letter "Supplement to the protocol" and add all the points you mentioned. Send the letter registered. Invite him at the end of your letter, to notify the former tenant of the defect so he can engage his liability. Take a lot of photos of the crack.
If he gives you a negative answer, contact the Mietverband.
Quite. Both times I moved into a rented place I added things to the protocol after I moved in by email (1st, scratches under furniture 11 years ago, 2nd black mold under bath rim 6 years ago) and that was sufficient for the agency and genosenschaft.
In Italy there is a thing called "certified email" (PEC). You open the email account through an authorized provided (one of them is the Italian Post) and then you send and receive email normally, plus you receive a legally valid confirmation when the recipient a) receives the email and b) opens it.
It costs like a coffee at a vending machine and works like a charm. And it is officially recognized in legal proceedings, equivalent to the Swiss paper registered mail.
However I talked with the liability insurance company. After I told the story to them, they told me that they opened a case and they gave me the ID of it. With this ID they will know that I notified them about the landlord trying to put this on me right after moving in and if the landlord will try to open a damage payment for this case(later, when I will move out) they will fight this with the case opened today.
Were you with the landlord when the protocol was done? You could have taken pictures as well.
The problem as I see it, is that the period after the protocol is really for hidden defects. The sink was not hidden. However, old cracks get water in them and look very different to a new crack.
Many people do not turn the water on at the handover, not just on a sink faucet, but showers, tubs and flushing toilets. So not finding a broken faucet could be considered hidden.
It is even less common to check shutters and shades during the handover but in fact these items are often not working properly. What part is missing exactly? Is it the pole to open and close an outside shade? If it is that item, it is rarely listed on the protocol. Often it is just hooked onto the closed shade.
I can't say it often enough, but taking an expert with you for the handover is the best thing you can do. Joining the tenant's association after the handover has been done without their help, or the help of any professional, could just lead to a much longer battle.
It is also possible to send mail A+ which is less costly than registered and you can confirm delivery.
Hope you manage to resolve these problems. At least tenants have some protection in this country. There is a process to resolve issues, though it is time consuming. Buyers have none. We have always sold our properties with everything in working order. But unfortunately I can't say the same for the properties we have purchased. It truly is buyer beware.
There are many decent landlords out there. Unfortunately we only here about the ones who are difficult.
No they can't easily say that because the pictured have embedded metadata and while a person can theoretically edit or remove that metadata it's hard to argue against their validity when the originals are on your actual phone.
Correct me if I am wrong: to see this metadata you will have to pay for technical specialized analysis. I think the court will order this only in complex cases not for a cracked sink.