Hi All,
A hypothetical question related to subletting in city ZH.
Let’s just say I’m subletting from my roommate. Let’s also say he/she becomes ‘incapacitated’ for whatever reason (accident/illness/whatever) and is no longer able to meet the main tenancy requirements.
Can I take over the lease? Can I be kicked out by the rental agency? Bottom line is that I dont want to become ‘homeless’ and have to find another place to stay. I would prefer to stay and become the primary renter, if possible …
The rental agency is one of the more ‘socially conscious’ agency …
Thoughts, opinions, experiences, ‘legal rights’ suggestions and ‘authorities’ I can discuss this in more details …
TIA!
Ask your roommate to add you to the lease.Then tou are both responsible for it.
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i do have a subletting contract signed with him, which the rental agency is also aware of and approved (e.g. I have made maintenance requests directly to the agency). So, I’m assuming that my name is also ‘in’ the main contract ‘as one of the lease holders’ …
Am I ASSUMING here?
ps. I thought I ask the forum here first, before I approached this ‘sensitive’ topic with my roommate or the agency …
If you are subletting, your “landlord” is the main tenant. You don’t have any special rights towards the owner.
If the contract between owner + main tenant is terminated, you have to leave too. Eg, if the main tenant does not pass on the rent or whatever and is evicted you have to leave, even though you did nothing wrong.
This is why they recommend to check the main tenants solvency before subletting, although nowadays the agency must have done it in the first place.
You can of course (should) sue the main tenant for any monetary loss you suffer, in such circumstances.
If the main tenant leaves, the landlord may or may not rent directly to you. You don’t have any special rights. But of course, if that comes, you can propose this to the agency to lent directly to you.
Because the agency approved your sub-tenancy, they know of your existance. But you don’t appear in the main contract, your contract is with the other tenant.
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Are you really sure you want that? I don’t think you thought this thru.
Because whoever is on the main contract is individually and jointly liable for the rent and any damages. Assume some nightmare-scenario where the other trashes the apartment and leaves the country … well, you’d be held liable (simply because you’re the easier target for the owner) not only for the damages but also the entire rent until the contract ends - which you’ll have plenty trouble canceling, see below.
What’s more, you can’t get out of the contract unilaterally. You need agreement by the other (joint giving notice), and lacking that you need a judicial verdict releasing you (which of course takes months and months to get, during which time you still might be liable for the rent).
Frankly I would never do this. Not as the (former) main tenant, not as the (former) subrenter. Not with a stranger, not with my cohabitating significant other. You don’t need a contract while things are good, and when they turn sour you’re trapped.
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Looks like you don’t understand what the hypothetical actually is.
Hint: It’s the scenario where the main renter becomes incapacitated, and the questions arising from it.
Asking a question to flesh out answers you haven’t yet thought through? Hypothetically, obvs… 
thanks everyone for their thoughts. Some good points raised. thank you.
I have rental insurance myself. Been a Generali customer for eons. That is not really so much of an issue …
i have known my very Swiss roommate for 10+ years - too Swiss to abandon CH.
As i walk towards the sunset years, questions I never considered nor gave thought to, now seem to raise themselves … Some of the suggestions, I will follow through … Once again, thanks!
Also enjoyed the late storm-in-a-tea-cup-in-this-thread with the glass of wine this evening ;)=.
Cheers …
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If the roommate happens to have an accident anytime soon, we’ll submit this thread as evidence
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If you’re getting close to retirement then yes, you do need to think seriously about how you might have to cope if your friend is no longer able to pay their part of the rent. Being reliant on just your pension/s will mean a drop in income; can you cover the rent yourself if necessary without leaving yourself short in other areas?
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LOL, yes my first thought was also “let’s just say don’t harm your room-mate”
my challenge would be to hide the body - too many swiss-neighbour-police around … lol …
Strange, I think you speak of a Switzerland of 70 years ago.
A couple of years ago our town got totally blocked off by the police (nobody could drive to their houses around my place) all day, even had to show ID in some cases, with the forensic police spending all day at one of the houses.
Seems we had a pretty heavy dude neighbour but nobody noticed, the German police had to tell our’s.
So you should be okay. I still don’t recommend it though.
Come to think of it, it’s probably better to have the real bad folks live next door, that’s probably safer. 
the verwalter is an elderly couple (80+ years). even today, he insists on pushing/bringing back the rubbish bin every week … he goes around and polices the laundry room, even to the point of leaving ‘hints’ that the laundry room is not clean/tidy while someone is using it …
We used to be able to do laundry on sundays and no one had issues. Until ‘someone’ got upset, and unscrewed one of those old swiss fuses to the laundry machines. Turns out the boiler was also on the same circuit … the house did not have hot water for 2 days … lol …
i’m thinking ‘old habits die hard…’… :)=