How do I get my lease deposit back?

How do I get my lease deposit back?

I moved out of a flat I'd been renting over 6 months ago. When my former landlord carried out the inventory of fixtures on leaving, he only noted minor defects, which I took care of (in particular, I had to clean certain rooms thoroughly). I still haven't recovered the rent I paid into a bank account as security. What should I do?

R. Vaud

The bank rent guarantee is a security available to the lessor to cover the risk of unpaid rent at the end of the lease or any damage caused to the rented property. At the end of the lease, the tenant must return the rented property in the condition in which it was intended. The landlord, for his part, must check the condition of the property and notify the tenant immediately of any defects found.

In principle, the rental guarantee is frozen and a bank can only return it with the agreement of both parties, as stipulated in art. 257e of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO). In the absence of such agreement, the bank will require either an unopposed or withdrawn summons to pay or an enforceable judgment in order to proceed with the repayment.

A landlord who wishes to recover the guarantee or part of it in repayment of defaults may, in particular, institute proceedings to enforce a pledge. If the tenant does not oppose the payment order, the rental guarantee will be released. In the event of an objection, the lessor will have to apply to the Conciliation Committee for Leases and Rents and then, if conciliation fails, to the Leases Tribunal, to assert his claims against the lessee by providing proof of defects that exceed normal wear and tear and must therefore be charged to the lessee.

If, in the year following the end of the lease, the landlord has not made any claim against the tenant in legal proceedings or legal action, the tenant may demand that the bank return the security. In this case, you should therefore send a registered letter asking your former landlord to release the security within a reasonable period of time. If he refuses to do so, you can either initiate proceedings against him or wait until the end of the one-year period to request repayment of the guarantee from the bank.