WATCH OUT - THESE CULPRITS ARE LURKING EVERYWHERE
What to do about rental nomads? A rental nomad is usually a person who moves into a property free of charge and does not pay, this rental nomad does not pay anything and never intended to. After a termination without notice, this rental nomad moves to another property or flat, house and everything from the beginning....A rental contract is changeable and requires a lot of attention - watch out!
Especially extreme caution is required when choosing new tenants. So-called tenant nomads can cause a great deal of trouble and financial expense and drive you to ruin. It can go so far that you have to sell the property at a loss and you should protect yourself against this as best you can. You can find out how to protect yourself from such unwanted nomads in our article.
How do I recognise such rental scammers?
Art. 146 of the Swiss Criminal Code: According to this article, fraud is committed if the tenant never intended to pay the rent.
As a landlord, you may be able to recognise fraudulent tenants by the fact that they do not respond to warnings or other attempts to contact them. They are often suspiciously uncommunicative from the moment they move in, which is difficult to detect.
As a landlord, you should be well prepared to prevent rental fraudsters from moving in in the first place.
At first glance, it is not easy to distinguish between tenant nomads and legitimate tenants. It is difficult to unmask rental nomads. They present themselves as respectable, decent, polite and have a very good way of speaking. Don't be fooled!
The swindlers are not necessarily recognisable by their clothing or appearance - on the contrary, they often appear very nice and serious. So you are often dealing with professionals, which is why landlords should carry out a thorough tenant check before signing the tenancy agreement. The absolute nightmare for all landlords: The new tenant doesn't pay the rent for months. To prevent this from happening and to ensure that landlords find a reputable tenant, they should proceed very carefully during the selection process. As a landlord, it is advisable to follow the following steps to avoid rental nomads and guarantee the rent:
- Request registration form
- References from the employer
- References from the previous landlord
- Get an extract from the debt collection register
- Get a credit check
- Have the previous landlord confirm that you are free of rent arrears
- Ask for identification documents
- Agree a rental deposit in writing (at least 2 months' rent)
This detailed check as a landlord helps you to deter potential crooks in advance. You can then agree in the tenancy agreement that you will only hand over the keys to the rental property once the tenant has paid the rent deposit, i.e. the security deposit, in full.
As a landlord, you can cover at least some of your costs in the worst-case scenario. If necessary, you can take out legal expenses insurance against this, which may be helpful, but despite thorough checks, it can happen that rental fraudsters move in. As soon as the rent has not been paid several times, you should become suspicious. In this situation, you have the right in Switzerland to send a warning immediately and threaten to terminate the tenancy. If the tenant still fails to pay the outstanding rent after the warning, you can terminate the tenancy without notice. Termination without notice is also known as "extraordinary termination". The difference to ordinary termination is that the notice period is not observed, as the employment relationship is to be terminated with immediate effect. Important: Avoid panicking when rent payments are outstanding. Not every rent default automatically means that the tenant is a tenant nomad. Sometimes the tenant is struggling with personal problems or an unexpected cancellation, for example. If rent payments are outstanding, you should therefore first contact the tenant, so that you are aware of the tenancy. In the event of a first default, you can also deduct the rent from the previously paid deposit. Tenants who are or become insolvent for personal reasons are therefore not automatically rent evaders. It is not always necessary to terminate the tenancy immediately in the event of non-payment of rent.
TOOLS, AIDS & CO. AGAINST TENANT NOMADS:
If you are dealing with rent fraudsters who do not move out despite your warnings and notice of termination, you can evict the tenant. To do this, you as the landlord in Switzerland must present a clear case and evidence such as relevant letters, bank statements and warnings. It is then possible to apply for eviction at the competent individual court. You can also file an action for eviction. We recommend that landlords seek legal advice before going to court. Lawyers specialising in tenancy law are familiar with the problem of tenant nomads and can assist you as a landlord. Private investigators are also helpful service providers for collecting evidence.
How, when to give notice?
Disturbance of the peace of the house or violation of the house rules.
If a tenant disturbs the peace in the house or violates the house rules, the landlord may terminate the tenancy agreement with them if necessary. This is possible in the following cases, provided there is evidence, which is not easy:
- Repeated disturbance of the peace at night
- Violent attacks
- Insult, threat
- Defamation
- Intentional damage to property
- Criminal offences
§573 BGB sets out the landlord's statutory grounds for termination:
- Breach of duty
- Own use
- Economic utilisation
Breach of duty by tenants
The most common breaches of duty committed by tenants are as follows:
1. late payment and unpunctual payment of rent Tenants who do not pay their rent at all or only pay it sporadically are a serious problem for landlords. If landlords have to deal with tenants who are unwilling to pay, termination without notice is legal if:
- are in arrears with 2 months' rent
- you are in arrears with 1 month's rent within 2 consecutive months
Termination without notice becomes ineffective if the tenant settles his rent arrears within two months of being served with the eviction notice. An important first step is to send the tenant a reminder and threaten termination. Allow the tenant a payment period of 30 days. If the tenant does not respond to your letter, you can give the tenant 30 days' notice to the end of the month in accordance with Art. 257d CO. It is very important that you use the official form for this cancellation.
Termination without notice is possible under Art. 257f CO if the tenant wilfully causes serious damage to the property. For example, if your tenant deliberately causes water damage, starts a fire or smashes up the kitchen.
MAGIC WORD EVICTION SUIT
We recommend involving professionals in the preparation right from the start. Expulsion is necessary. Even court support is not always enough to get rid of fraudulent tenants in Switzerland. This is because if they ignore the requests and continue to fail to pay the rent, they can theoretically remain in the flat for the time being. As a landlord, you should definitely refrain from taking action yourself and evicting the tenant along with their belongings or even using force.
Sad but true...it is also generally not recommended, to change the door lock themselves, switch off the heating or take similar countermeasures. Even if the rental fraudster does not pay any rent, your obligations as a landlord remain unaffected by this. You should therefore choose the legal route, even if this involves costs.
Instead, an expulsion is necessary, which you can obtain with the help of the above-mentioned eviction action.
You can apply for this at the relevant district court after the first complaint. This process can be quite time-consuming and unfortunately there are tenant nomads who speculate precisely on this time. As soon as the eviction is final, it will be enforced by the local authority. If necessary, police assistance can be used to remove the tenant from the property.
It is also extremely important to identify such unwanted tenants as early as the reference check stage. The more detailed the research and clarification, the more effectively landlords can protect themselves against such tenant fraudsters. Therefore, take your time with the clarifications and check the tenant details thoroughly and very carefully. If the tenant nomad has left rubbish, dirt and objects in the flat, you must remove them at your own expense. It is best to hire a removal company and, as the landlord, store the furniture temporarily. After a certain period of time, you can auction them off - your lawyer can also help you with this. Other costs incurred - whether due to destruction of the flat or mould infestation - must also be borne by the tenant concerned. In the worst case, these costs can be high. Repair and refurbishment is necessary because you want to find new tenants who will pay the monthly rent regularly. The costs of eviction and legal proceedings are usually borne by you. This is because tenant nomads are almost always insolvent. However, legal expenses insurance will help you to cover the costs. Before you rent out your flat, it makes sense to clarify the insurance details. Last but not least, you need to repair the rented property. Here, too, you as the landlord are responsible for the costs - so remember to take out good insurance cover during the letting process.
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