Can my son appear on the lease?
Can my son appear on the lease?
Can my property management company add my son, who has now come of age and still lives with me, to the contract as the leaseholder?
A. M., Geneva
The lease contract is between two distinct parties, the landlord on the one hand and the tenant on the other. The contract imposes obligations on both parties. It is, of course, possible for one of the parties to be made up of several people. A lease with several tenants is a common situation.
A valid contract cannot be amended unilaterally, i.e. without the consent of the contracting party; this is a general principle applicable to all areas of law. If you wish to register your son as a joint tenant, you should make the proposal to the landlord, who will be free to accept or refuse, without you being able to force him to do so.
However, it should be pointed out that this joint tenancy is not without legal consequences. The tenancy would then become a "shared tenancy" (not to be confused with subletting, which is governed by specific provisions of the law). In a shared tenancy, the tenants are jointly and severally liable to the landlord for all obligations, each for the whole. This means that, regardless of the internal organisation of the flat-sharing tenants, the landlord will be able to call on any one of them to pay the full rent, service charges and any damage to the property. This joint and several liability continues even if the co-tenant no longer lives in the flat. What's more, if only one of the housemates cancels, this will have no legal effect unless the landlord and the remaining housemate agree.
So the advantage of greater creditworthiness among the flatmates, which you might be tempted to point out to the landlord to persuade him to agree to include your son on the contract, could prove to be a disadvantage if one day you no longer agree with the landlord about the occupation and payment of the flat. In any case, you should think about including in such a shared-tenancy contract the precise conditions under which each of you could be released from your obligations to the landlord.
Hello
I'm a tenant and my daughter would like to take over my tenancy with her friend, as I'm leaving. Can I do this and how? Will she be charged if the landlord agrees? Does he have the right to increase the rent?
Thank you for your answers
Sincerely
Dear Sir or Madam,
Tenants are not free to transfer their tenancy agreement to a third party, even a family member. If you move out, however, your daughter and her friend can offer to take over the flat from the landlord or the property management company. There are then two possible situations: (1) transfer of the existing lease, i.e. taking over the lease on the same terms, or (2) signing a new lease directly with the new tenants.
In the case of a new lease, the landlord may in principle set a new rent. The management company or the landlord may also charge an administrative fee for the change of tenant or the establishment of a new lease, but the legitimacy of such a fee is debatable.
The Espace Legal team is, of course, available to review your case confidentially and assist you with the necessary steps. You can book an online appointment with one of our solicitors, who will be able to provide you with personalised advice.
Yours sincerely,
The Espace Legal team