Moving Out Damage to Pay for?

Hi all,

I will be looking to move out of my apartment which i have been in for the last 4.5 years. The flat itself is about 20plus years old and has not been renovated since purchase from what i understand.

There are a few defects that have occurred and i am wondering what is usually covered by the Owner vs me when it comes to paying for and whether it is something I need to try and resolve before moving out?

1) Double Sink Crack

Something fell out of one of the cupboards above the sink and landed on the sink. it has now created a spider web like crack in the main bowl which is about 10cm across! so quite substantial and would need to be replaced rather than repaired i guess.

2) Lightly cracked tile in Kitchen floor

Again it looks like something has fallen at some point and cracked a single tile in the kitchen floor. its more of a hairline crack than anything major like the sink.

3) Fridge Missing Shelves (Broke)

2 Shelves in the Fridge are missing.

4) Painting?

We haven't done anything to the walls ourselves since we have moved in but i am sure i read something some years ago online that tenants are responsible for repainting the walls. I could be totally wrong! (hoping so)

Thanks

1-3: You broke them, you need to pay for them. None of those will come under the usual wear and tear.

4: You will be expected to clean and touch up the walls to a high standard. If the walls are bad enough a repaint will be required. Use the photos you took when you moved in to judge the expected standard and use them as evidence if it is argued that your touch ups are not good enough. This one may not apply after a certain amount of time but I haven't rented anywhere long enough to give you first hand information on that.

The first three should be covered under the tenant's insurance assuming that they have any.

The amount they would have to pay for replacing the sink etc would also Depend on the age of the sink and the expected lifetime of said sink I believe.

Yes, tenant is responsible for damages above normal wear. But only up to current value of the things. Not new value - the landlord bears loss of value due to normal wear, he gets paid rent for that.

There are some widely acceptable tables of life expectancy of various building parts, e.g. this one from HEV: http://www.hev-schweiz.ch/vermieten/...sdauertabelle/

Lavabo, for example, according to it should last 35 years. As yours is only 20 years old and should have served for another 15 years, you'll owe 15/35 of replacement costs if you broke it so that it has to replaced now.

Paint should last 10-15 years. If last repainting is already more than that many years ago, it'll be fully on the landlord. Don't even bother with cleaning the walls then.

Emulsioned walls have a 7 year lifespan.

The landlord won't expect to be able to rent the place again without redecorating. You would probably be ok just with filling in the holes.

I was in my last place for 5 or 6 years, and I spent a lot of time touching up, cleaning etc, only to be met by the decorators on my hand over day.

I think you will need to add your missing key to the list.

House insurance - key replacement?

As for painting the walls I would say be careful with the exact paint type on small surfaces because an error will make you paint the entire wall. In our case on the white walls we talked to the housing company and they advised not to try touch ups because the matcing paint requires some mixing of different paints which we cannot do. So we called the painter on the account of the house company . If the company sends the painter for major work , you can ask painter little bit paint mixture to do touch ups yourself.

BTDT, you're 100% correct with this.

Tom

Something relevant to this that might be useful for people to know: When I moved out from my previous flat in Zurich, one key was missing. The agency decided to replace the locks at a cost of more than 600 francs. Ouch! Be careful with little things cause costs can get astronomical.

This should be covered by your house contents insurance or liability insurance.

The insurance that is mandatory as part of your rental agreement.

It's not obligatory.

To keep the paint from drying in the container, especially acrylic which has a much longer lifespan than emulsion, it helps to store the container upside down.

It can be as part of a rental agreement !

It depends where you live as with most things in Switzerland. In some cantons the liability insurance is a requirement.

It was for us when we were renting here. I'm not sure if it was a cantonal rule or just our landlord.

The landlord can have it as an intergral part of the rental contract, i have it in all of my contracts, saves a lot of pain later !

In what sense? By law or in practice?

From https://www.ch.ch/en/personal-liability-insurance/

So, over to you to prove otherwise...

By law

Your link says it too.

Even if you as a landlord put it in a contract - you can't rely on it even if you don't check... Ask for deposit, it's safer.

A rental deposit and a household insurance policy are 2 completely different things !

I do check by the way

Well, I guess we're reading the link different.

Quite unambiguous: "It should be noted that proof of liability insurance is required for renting an apartment".

All my contracts so far have stated that I require instance *and* I've paid a deposit so, again, not sure what point you are trying to make.

Whatever though, easier for you to groan than explain otherwise.

Are you blind? This is at the very top of your link:

"Personal liability insurance: Liability insurance is not mandatory"

I rest my case

And none of the ones I've ever signed had it, so what? It's not mandatory by law. If it's in the contract - then you better stick to the contract or walk away or negotiate.

No shit. Household insurance would only cover damage to your tenant's belongings, not your apartment. You need to insist that tenant gets a *liability* insurance.