Sorry I wrote the above message in a rush! I changed my address and I think this letter slipped though. So our privious owner opening my letter, very personal with my work contract and sent a letter to them demanding money! They were nice about it but i feel very violated! She has already rented to place to other people (I feel sorry for them) but can she do this? Is this legal to open mail that is not yours?

 Hi Cassie F,

Welcome to this funny world!

Firstly you should ASAP visit your previous local post office, provide them your new address...in the future all your posts will be diverted to your new address - free of charge.

Secondly call all your mail senders and change your address (I’m sure this u must have already done)

Now coming down to your question about Law...Yes there are Privacy violation laws in Swiss. A decent Swiss lawyer will charge you between CHF 150 to CHF 350 per hour additional to taxes, phone calls etc. You will end up wasting your productive time and money for this idiot. Finally this case will end up with an apology...depending how serious is the offence.

Make sure in the future you may NOT get any mail, important document or a message, if sent/given to this owner by an error. It’s advisable to treat this act as an accident and ignore this stupid person...anyways you are not going to meet him/her. Spend this valuable money and time with someone who is important.

Additionally, meet your previous owner and politely advice sending your mails directly to you without opening....make this person realize without offending...I’m sure you will feel more satisfied...

Have a nice day...cheers!!  

I never cease to be amazed at the level of landlords' craziness and tenant abuse here.  Geneva may be in Switzerland, but about renting real estate is Third World.

Ask your employer to give you the letter as evidence.  Then go to the police. 

But again, the better advice is to follow ASLOCA's advice.

You can go to the local legal clinic and 50 chf for advice about what to do:

http://www.permanence-juridique.com/

They can give you advice in English as well. 

This can be money well spent, especially if any other letters happen to slip through. This person is violating the law and must be dealt with in a serious manner.

you must make the distinction between civil and criminal action by going to a lawyer you will pay for the information, but as you have suffered no real damage ( monetary ) a civil action is probably a waste of your time. however, bringing criminal charges against your landlord MAY get them in trouble, IF it is shown that their action was in "good faith" and that they have never been ..........bla bla bla, you may find yourself being hauled before the court for slander! 

The behaviour of certain persons is really incredible.

My understanding of the Swiss law, however, is that the violation of the correspondence by a landlord does not fall under the criminal provisions (art. 321ter of the Swiss criminal code only applies to persons working or having worked for the post services).

In theory, you may file a civil claim, based on a violation of your personality rights, but this appeary difficult in practice. You would have to demonstrate the violation and the damage.