When can I quit my apprtment?

Accomodation, House and Garden
1
I just want to confirm when can I quit my appartment, my German is not good enough to understand it correctly.

Kündigung bei unbestimmter Dauer --> 3 monate im Voraus auf -> Ende Marz/ Ende Juni / Ende September.

That means I can give the notice on these months and wait for 3 months ?

Or on these months I can vacate provided I have sent the notice 3 months before?

Thanks a lot for your help.

2
Both in a way! As if you give notice at end of March, you can leave 3 months later which is the end of June. Give notice end of June you can leave end of September! It looks like you don't have the option in the 4th 1/4 to give notice end of September and move out end of December.

3
From what I understand, those dates are when you actually leave the apartment, so you need to give notice three months before then.

4
Thanks a lot. Actually I want to move by end of December or by end of March. So second option is possible?

5

No, because you have to give notice 3 months before you want to move. So to move at the end of March you needed to notify your landlord/agency by the 31st December 2012. Notification has to be done by registered letter iirc. So end of June is your first available date with notification being done by registered letter before the 31st March 2013.

You could, of course, give notice and move out at the end of March, but then you are liable for the 3 months’ rent until end of June unless you can find a suitable tenant to take over your lease.

6
Does the op not mean the end of December 2013 or the end of March 2014?

7
Thanks a lot. So I can move out by end of March 2014, if I give the notice 3 months in advance?

So these are the times when I can physically move out. Not to give notice. ""Ende Marz/ Ende Juni / Ende September.""

8

Yes, those are the physical moving out days. Every canton has them, but they differ. Fribourg canton is just end of March and September, at least that was what our rental contract had.

If you want to move out on 31st March 2014, make sure your notification letter is delivered in good time in December due to the Christmas/New Year holidays.

9
Correct on both counts MF, Zurich typically has March and Sept, but our contract had June too, our new place is just the 2 exit dates.

Most agents have zero compassion with the dates unfortunately. We told our agents face to face Nov 2012, that we would be moving in March 2013, and asked about the process. She said to drop her a line, so I emailed her in early Dec naively based on the conversation which she read on the 6th Dec. We then hit xmas holiday and not having had a reply went into the office on the 7th to confirm things and report an lighting fault. She basically said "email isn't a letter, and we hadn't both signed it so it wasn't valid" and as it was now 7 days after the cut off we are stuck until June. No attempt at any point between the 6th and xmas to tell me she wanted the letter anyway... nice.

With regards to the letter of termination, registered post is standard, but our agents accepted it hand delivered to their office, but if in doubt run it by them to be sure. If you have a parking space, ensure you specifically state the and apartment and the garage in the termination letter. I do know of one poor sod in Zug who handed his apartment notice in thinking the agents would naturally include the space, they didn't, and he got stuck with another 3 months garage rental

10
You can hand deliver your termination letter but in that case you should also take a copy with you which you make them sign to say they have received it.

You can also move outside the official moving dates but you have to pay the rent until the end of your contract unless you find a suitable tenant to take over your lease.

11
My father had the misfortune to die just after notice day- so we would have had to continue paying for almost 6 months, had we not found somebody to take over the house

12
Sad that Odile, like I said zero compassion these agents.

13
Something interesting I heard, when asking about these "moving out" months in Switzerland ........

March and June are the "moving out" times of the year, because it is the warm months with summer approaching.

No-one may be told to get out of their house in or near winter. Because that is cruel.

Those are the Olden Days regulations.

These days, one may come to an arrangement , and move whenever you like, as long as you have a place to move to, and the vacating person has a place to move to and so on down the line.

14
If you live in a Swiss city, forget about the sacrosanct "rules on quitting the apartment". It's a freeforall, just tell the landlord/estate agency one month in advance you're quitting and provide them with a solvent tenant. That's all. No need to pussyfoot.

15
I manage a property on behalf of private owners and the tenants were permitted to give back the apartment one month before the official notice period and released from paying a month's rent.

Basically their family situation had changed. So yes, compassion does exist.

I have a client who just moved to a new apartment and they received the keys 3 weeks early without paying any rent for that period.

This is not about compassion, but about knowing how to negotiate.

16
Exactly, which is what we did - my parents had been in situ almost 30 years... and as soon as a neighbour heard, they came to ask if they could have the house for their parents (we dealt with owners direct, no agent!)

17
1 way negotiation is called talking to oneself, which as far as our agents are concerned is about the sum total of it, if the other party is not interested negotiation cannot happen. We negotiated (without an agent) to get the key to our new house yesterday and have had access for 2 weeks, when the contract doesn't start until 1st June so negotiation skills are not the issue. You'll get the odd exception, but in the main agents don't really care as long as they get their fees/commissions, and our agents have a particularly crappy rep. So all one can do is know the rules, and regardless of any contra indications unless it's in writing, play them'.