Move in date shifted despite rent starts from 1st of month

Hi all,

I will be moving into a new apartment in November. The starting date of my rental agreement is the 1st of November which is a Sunday and therefore also very good for me to move. I have also already paid the rent for the month of November in full (so starting from the 1st). Nevertheless, today the previous tenant of that apartment told me that since the 1st falls on the weekend, I will have to wait until the 2nd at 11:30 to receive the keys of the apartment because apparently the cleaning company will clean in the meantime. Shouldn't the cleaning company clean in his time and not mine? How does this work? He told me that per law is like this but this seems totally unfair to me as I am paying from the 1st of November. Any one knows what the law says about this? Thank you!

I don’t know about any law, but moving on a Sunday is a no, no here in Switzerland. Sunday is a day of rest, no loud noises, etc, so you moving furniture, etc, into an apartment will not get you into the good books of your new neighbours.

That's a good point I didn't think about. Then I still don't see why I don't receive the keys on Monday first thing in the morning

Plus, they could still hand me the keys on Sunday, even if I don't move in and make noise (guess that's my responsibility).

You cannot (and should not want to try to) move in before they move out. This is for your own protection. The reason is the inspection.

First, the landlord/caretaker will go through the whole flat with them , and criticise everything that they and their cleaners have not left in perfect working order. The caretaker will make a list of all those items, and the outgoing tenants will have to pay for damages.

Then, when you move in, you will have such an inspection with your caretaker, too. This time, it is your turn to go through the whole flat and write down every single thing that is less than perfect. This formal list must be signed by you and the caretaker. This is for your protection, so that when you move you, you can produce that list again, to prove that damages x and y were there when you moved in, and so you will not have to pay for those damages, only for new ones that you cause.

Therefore, it would be a terrible idea to mix up your moving and their moving out and the cleaning and the inspections. It would blur the responsibilities and probably end up costing you money.

It is just the way things are here, and overall makes some sense - if you can't get cleaners or removal companies on a Sunday, it has to move to the following day.

As to the cost - on the whole it works out. It could be when you move out it works in your favour - you have a 1 in 7 chance. Assuming you rent for a few years it'll only be < 0.1% of your cost, so why worry?

It's a bit like the public holidays on weekends - every few years we get a really bad combination at Christmas and New Year, but nobody expects their complaining to make any difference.

The tenant has given you correct information. I know it is less than ideal for you but that is how things are when the 1st of the month falls on a Sunday.

I'd say this was incorrect. The previous occupier should be done before the moving in date of the new tenants regardless of if the new tenants can actually move in that day for operational reasons. That you should be able to move out on the 2nd when your lease expired on the 31st is plain out of order. It's an over-stay. If there's no-one to hand over the keys until the monday morning because it's rented through an agency then that I understand but the tenant should already have their stuff out.

@Landers, I think you're mistaken, as annoying as that can be for the new tenant (but very convenient for the outgoing tenant). Here's the Mieterverband (tenants' association) on this:

Fällt der Abgabetermin auf einen Sonntag oder anerkannten Feiertag, kommt Artikel 78 OR zur Anwendung. Danach verschiebt sich die Abgabe auf den nächsten Werktag. Obwohl das nicht ausdrücklich im Gesetz steht, geht man heutzutage im Allgemeinen sogar davon aus, dass das auch für Samstage gilt.

If the end of the lease falls on a Sunday or recognised public holiday, Article 78 of the Swiss Code of Obligations applies, by which the handover date is postponed to the next working day. Although this is not explicitly stated in the law, nowadays it is generally assumed that this also applies to Saturdays.

OR Art. 78

https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classifi...index.html#a78

Yip, unfortunately that is how it is here. As said above by others, if the 1st is on a weekend day or public holiday, the handover is legally earliest at noon on the very next working day.

The best you can do is ask the previous tenant nicely if he is able to move or clean earlier...and they are within their rights to say no.

My daughter and her friend rented an apartment from 1 August, but as the previous tenant had already moved out, they were able to do the handover on the 30th rather than on the 3rd.

Tom

While I agree the standard handoever day would be 2nd of November I agree with the OP that the cleaning should be done in October (though they can choose to do on Saturday and it does not benefit OP anyways)

That makes no sense - the rule is that handover happens at 12:00 on the handover day, which you agree is 2nd November.

Why should the previous tenant clean in October - they are perfectly entitled to clean any time they like - and why does it make any difference to the new tenant?