Rental deposit refund

Accomodation, House and Garden
1
My daughter rented a furnished room for 6 months. Although she handed it back in 100% condition (it was signed off as such) she is still waiting for the deposit to be refunded, 3 months later. I saw in an old thread from 2010 that they may keep the deposit for 12 months! Is that still the case? I find that staggering!

2
Many landlords will release the deposit immediately. Others wait for a year, as up until then there are not always any definite bills for heating and maintenance costs.

After 12 months the landlords cannot legally keep the deposit any longer, and the bank will release the deposit without any argument.

3
The money is in a special rental deposit account running in your daughter's name? It is, right?

4
It doesn't matter even if it is, the landlord is a co-owner and needs to sign to release.

5

To be clear you said she rented a Room, not an apartment / flat - in that case I am also surprised that the refund could take a year. However what were the terms in her agreement for the Refund?

6
Sorry about the delay. It was a rented room in a huge building consisting of furnished rooms with communal bathrooms, kitchens & laundries, like a dorm. And the deposit wasn't in a bank account in her name. The contract didn't stipulate when the deposit would be paid. But we now finally received the dep back. Thanks for the advice

7
We're having the same problem. A large rental agent in Lausanne signed off on our apartment and we signed a couple of quotes agreeing to a few hundred dollars worth of fixes (eg. replacing a cracked plastic fitting in the bathroom), it's been three months and they're still holding our entire deposit and the two weeks rent we're owed as they moved new tenants in before the end of the month. All up it's about 8'500 chf.

But because the agents hasn't had the final works done (and therefore paid the final bills) we're unable to get our money back. 8'500 chf is a lot of money to be holding back for about 300 chf worth of work!

And you're saying they can hold it for twelve months?!

Is there any sort of legal recourse we can take?

8
If I understood correctly when we moved out, it's not only to cover for the repair, but also to ensure that any costs incurred but not already paid for will be paid when the bill comes. Typically that would be everything that fall within "nebenkosten" (not sure how they call them in French): heating, general maintenance, and so forth...

We moved in Sept. 2014, we got our deposit back about 6 months later, once the bills from suppliers to the building for 2014 had come and we had paid our share. We knew in advance it would be like this (the management company was very helpful in explaining everything), but I could see that someone who doesn't know might get nerveous, especially since you have to pay a new deposit for your new rental in the meantime. It's a lot of money!

9
If you don't want this to happen again, you can pay something like 170-200chf per year and use https://www.swisscaution.ch/en

Then you don't need to have any money frozen over any period of time. Honestly, if I can spare the cash then I wouldn't pay for something like that but if your overall cash is not that much and the deposit makes you feel uneasy, then go for it.

10
Twelve month is the time limit defined in the law.

Swiss Code of Obligations Art. 257e.

https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classifi...dex.html#a257e

From cancellation date until twelve month later the landlord or landlady must approve the payout. (Importantly, also tenant must approve to pay out) After twelve month the landlord or landlady must object to the payout, if the bank receives no object the full amount is paid out. With a court order payout is possible anytime. See the law:

Swiss Code of Obligations Art. 257e.

https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classifi...dex.html#a257e

Good to here that you received the deposit. The contract normally never stipulates a time frame as the law defines it. Also the money must be paid in a special deposit account running on the tenants name. See the law:

Swiss Code of Obligations Art. 257e.

https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classifi...dex.html#a257e

Most likely the ones defined by the law. There is no need to mention it in the contract.

Swiss Code of Obligations Art. 257e.

https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classifi...dex.html#a257e

Ever read the Gerneral Terms and Conditions of Swisscaution?

static.swisscaution.ch/docs/cga/bh/current/CGA_PDF_BH_EN.pdf

See in particular Art. 5 and Art. 6

For rental periods longer than 2 years a small credit for CHF 10000 by Migros Bank is cheaper than Swisscaution!