Hello, there... I understand your dilemma. The best solution is to immediately join Asloca. It is well worth it and they can give you the best advice on how to deal with all of your questions.

From what I understand, you can sign the lease and still contest the rent. The regie is required by law to respond to certain demands of the renter.

Join Asloca and get the advice. It will probably help set your mind at rest.

Try  not to stress out too much about it and get out and enjoy Geneva!

Please, for the sake of all the tenants in Geneva, do go to Asloca and contest your rent. You have to do this within 30 days of receiving your keys. If everybody just accepts these ridiculous rent increases the situation is going to be worse and worse.

I went through this process this autumn/winter (it does take a few months) and I got a significant decrease in rent (from 2200 to 1700 for a 60m2 flat to be precise, and they cancelled a point in the contract so that they can't increase the rent if they do improvements in the flat). I don't feel this changed much in our "relationship" with the regie, they're very professional (but then we don't really communicate with them that much). I have an insurance that covered the costs of Asloca but it wasn't that expensive (just under 1200 CHF for the whole procedure), so I would pay that out of my pocket, given that they had to pay back the "overpaid" rent...

Just so you know: Asloca is VERY busy so don't expect them to spend too much time with you. When you go there, take all your paperwork and also photos of your flat (and the building) and a plan of the flat with the measures, so that they can estimate its value. You will not always have the same lawyer, but that's normal, the information passes between them.

Don't try to do anything informally with the regie. They also tried to "bargain" with us but we insisted on going to the "commission de conciliation des baux et loyers" which was a good idea.

I truly don't know if we've been "blacklisted" or something, we'll see when we want to find a new flat :-) but truly, I don't worry too much about that. I wouldn't be surprised if this was just another rumour set into the world by the regies/owners so that people are too scared to say anything...

Conclusion: The whole thing didn't take much of our time (going to the Asloca permanence once - waited about 1,5 hours, then going to the commission about 3 months later, took about 5 minutes, some communication by letter with Asloca, a couple of e-mails to the regie for practical stuff - that was it). My legal insurance paid about 1200 CHF, we got about 2000 CHF back, and got a rent decrease of about 20%.

By the way, it's not 30 days from signing the contract but 30 days from receiving the key (usually the "Etat des lieux").

Thank you Translator and Eva77 - really helpful!

Any more experiences / advice also appreciated??

If anything I think one could write a book about looking for a flat in Geneva!

Keep receipts for all your rent payments and as well as the deposit and when making important requests of the regie, do it in writing and send by registered mail. 

Try your best to be absolutely meticulous in doing the move-in inspection. Note down every single thing you see wrong, broken, or that needs updating (no matter how small) and keep a copy for yourself.

Finally, when you move out, never, ever, sign something called a "convention  de sortie" which demands that you fix certain things before you get your deposit back. 

Now enjoy your day!

We had the exact same situation.  Go to ASLOCA .  Our rent ended up being reduced by over 25%.  I am not aware of a blacklist-we do not plan to move because we love our apartment.  Our regie always had a bad attitude so I really can't tell if it's gotten any worse.  If you start a case against them, make sure you adhere to strictly to the terms of your lease, so they have no ammunition to use against you.  Since the have the absolutel right of appeal, some of the big regies will fight you in hopes that you just give up.  We went all the way to the supreme court.  But it was more than worth it.  Not only did they have to give back all the money we overpaid, the were also ordered to pay all our legal fees!

Even though it is all over, we still keep our ASLOCA membership current because they are an amazing organization.

What a great story!  I especially loved the part where they had to pay your legal fees!

@Translator- Our regireis one of the biggest regies In Geneva, so it was a real David and Golitath situation.  ASLOCA rocks!

Well, also kudos to you for hanging in there, though! So many people get discouraged in these situations because they feel it is an exercise in futility. That's why these discussions and postings are so valuable.

Unscrupulous regies and property owners can make a renter's life hell.  The more people that join ASLOCA, the better...

Because we had a tough time finding a reasonably-priced place to rent, followed by a very, very negative experience with the Regie once we did find one, and based on all of the posts on this topic on glocals, we decided very early on to bypass the whole sordid scene and look for something to buy.

After two months of looking we did find one, and never looked back. Our monthly costs are 35% less than before, for a lakeview (the old view was the neighbours across the street in their cubbyhole), 30% more space, plus a two-car garage (old parking was 'good luck finding anything on the street Sir') and at least some expectation of appreciation of the property value. It's not easy either, we went through some less-than-ethical seller machinations, and one has to put lots of equity down to get a decent mortgage, but it sure beats the previous rental deal and associated headaches.

"The flat has been renovated (new kitchen, new bathroom and repainted)"

@Manno M - The best advice is - as said - discuss your case .with ASLOCA!

But be carefully optimistic. Your case is in a grey zone. What happens many times is that the landlord neglects regular maintenance in order to make a total renovation (=renewal+upgrading) at the time of change of tenant. In this way the law (on limited rent increase at change of tenant) can be bypassed - and the apartment can be let at the market price of a new construction. It is a tricky thing to prove retroactively the case of negligence of regular maintenace. And in the case of upgrading, rent increases beyond the normal legal limit are acceptable.