The dream property has finally been found. Only a few more weeks and you can move in. It would all be perfect, if it weren't for your current apartment, from which you now want to move out before the notice period expires. Do you have to look for a new tenant or your landlord will take care of it? Is everyone eligible or a new tenant has to meet certain requirements? Get information here, how you can get out of your lease early.
1. Cancel out of date
The trouble was worth it, You have found your dream property. The moving date is already in a few weeks. What to do with your current home, if the lease can only be terminated with a three-month notice period?
In this case, do not terminate your rental agreement in writing by registered mail in due time, but extra-time. To terminate the tenancy, for example, you can use the cancellation form from vertragshilfe.ch. Also inform the landlord in it, that you will propose a new tenant well in advance.
2. Obligation to find a new tenant
Because to get prematurely released from the lease, are you after Art. 264 OR Committed, one Finding a new tenant. Since the landlord does not have to accept this under all circumstances and applicants for a property can still drop out, it is best to look for several candidates at once. Have you found potential tenants, who would like to enter the rental agreement on the same terms, have everyone sign a registration form.
With this information, the landlord can get an idea of the person and contact them. Notice, that the signature of the potential new tenant on the registration form only shows his interest. This means that the person does not yet enter into the tenancy of the apartment.
A decision by the landlord is required for a tenant successor, who would like to see a copy of the debt enforcement register extract in addition to the notification form and the time of the possible takeover. Send him this information in full by registered mail.
At the end of the selection process, an applicant must have signed the rental agreement. If the landlord still rejects suitable interested parties, you should be able to fully demonstrate your efforts. To do this, copy the registration forms and registration receipts, otherwise your contractual obligations remain binding until the notice period has expired.
3. Requirements of the new tenant
The landlord does not have to accept every interested party, however, he is also not allowed to refuse arbitrarily. The applicant for the lease must meet a number of conditions:
- Is the potential new tenant solvent?
He must be able to do this, to pay the rent including ancillary costs and rent deposit punctually and in full. The landlord wants a wage as evidence of this- or see salary slips and a current excerpt from the debt enforcement register, which shows no negative entries regarding solvency. In addition, the rent may not burden the household budget by more than a third.
Is the potential new tenant a social welfare recipient?, the landlord needs a confirmation from the social welfare authority, that this takes over the rent payments. However, in this case he may reject the applicant, as the authority can cut or suspend payments. The landlord therefore bears a greater risk with this group of people.
- Is the prospect reasonable?
No higher standards may be set for the reasonableness of the next tenant, than to the previous tenant. Everyone is therefore reasonable, from which no disturbances to the rental community are to be expected. Applicants may only be rejected as unreasonable, if there are valid reasons.
Reservations towards unmarried or same-sex couples and towards foreign prospects must not affect you as a previous tenant. If a landlord rejects such persons, which would otherwise be appropriate, Your commitment to the tenancy is deemed to have ended.
4. Decision of the landlord
For the examination of the applicants for a rental property, the landlord has between 10 and 30 Days time. If he does not make a decision within the permitted period of time or if he rejects solvent and acceptable interested parties, you are released from your contractual obligation. The decisive factor is the date, on which the interested party would have entered the lease.
Get confirmation from rejected prospects, that they would have been solvent and ready, to enter into the rental agreement on the date in question under the same conditions. In addition, request a reason from the landlord, why the person was rejected.
Important: Should the rejection be effective, because the applicant did not meet the conditions, you have not yet been released from the tenancy. The result is, that you have to pay rent and ancillary costs until the notice period has expired.
If the landlord announces his own use or would like to renovate the property before re-letting it, the date is considered binding, from which an applicant would have taken over the lease. If possible new tenants meet all requirements, however, withdraw, since defects in the property are not remedied, This must also not affect the premature termination of the previous tenancy. So keep that in mind, To adequately document deficiencies (in words and pictures).
Even if a suitable prospect withdraws his application because of a higher rent, the deadline applies, on which he would have taken over the lease with the rent remaining the same.
5. New tenants found
You have found a new tenant, who meets all the requirements? Then request a final confirmation from the landlord, that you are completely released from the rental agreement by the desired date.
Have fun in your new property!
