Exiting a lease in Switzerland (Canton of Zürich). Really?

[Anthony Calek]

I've learned a lot about being a property manager living and working outside of the US.

It was summer of 2019, my wife and myself were in the process of moving to Chicago from Zürich Switzerland. My wife explained that after we had moved all of our personal belongings, we would need to deep clean her unit, leaving it in the same condition she had received it in. This was after she had lived there for two years. 

Broom-clean is a term used in Chicago (and other places) to describe the condition a tenant is expected to leave a unit after the lease has terminated. I don't like this term, it's too vague, there is too much room for interpretation and many tenants take advantage of that fact. Why not vacuum clean? 

As my wife and I began to clean and she began to describe the condition to which we would be expected to leave her unit, I have to admit I was skeptical.  Essentially, every surface would need to be vacuumed, washed and scrubbed. All marks would need to be removed, any nail holes would need to be filled and painted over. The stove would need to look as though it had never been used, the fridge too. Most people hire a professional service to do this.

We would wash the windows inside and out, including the frames and the exterior parts that are accessible because the windows are able to swing into the unit. There would be no steaks left on the windows, not a one. I had to go back several times over the glass until everything was gone. 

My wife had painted one wall in the main living space of the unit. She explained that this wall would need to be painted and left white, though we would not be able to do it and so the property management company would charge her a substantial fee to repaint it.

I should mention that I protested a bit, as the unit was scheduled to be renovated and so all of our cleaning would in the end be for naught. No future tenant would enjoy all of our hard work. 

In the end, my wife received the majority of her mandatory deposit of 3 months rent, the standard in Zürich. I think we spent about 8 hour in total that day and many hours beforehand to leave the unit in the best condition we possibly could. 

This experience left some lasting impressions. I have implemented a cleaning policy of my own, an additional signed agreement that requires that my tenants leave their units in a similar condition. They are instructed to hire (if they choose) a professional cleaning service to aid them in leaving their units in move-in condition. They are free to do this themselves if they so choose. 

I'm still working out the kinks, long term tenants of 3 or more years are exempted and there is still some room for interpretation. Even so, most of the tenants that have signed this agreement have complied. Because the County of Cook in Illinois has made collecting security deposits all but prohibitively difficult, I look for any opportunity to reduce my costs when turnovers occur. 

I should also mention that I only offer at-will (MTM) leases and if I find that tenants are doing an unreasonable amount of damage to our unit, I move to end the lease immediately.

What strategies have you developed to reduce the amount of money spent to bring units back to move-in condition. 

Best 

Anthony 

[Bjorn Ahlblad]

@Anthony Calek We have a new basic requirement. I am now looking for tenants of Swiss origin!!