Damn Sean, if I get 10% off my rent thanks to this, there's a big free dinner coming your way!

I ended up with 10.35%

A long-standing

acquaintance tells me that he has succeeded in obtaining a reduction in rent on several occasions when there’s been a drop in the interest rate.

He writes a letter along the lines given on Asloca’s website, requesting a reduction of, say,

20%.  The Regie’s response is usually a reduction of 5% which is subsequently mutually agreed at 10%.

I have no personal experience of any such negotiations myself but my informant assures me that they can and do work so good luck to all who decide to give them a whirl.

R.

You mean the asloca calculation for you was 10.35%, or you mean the Regie accepted that reduction for you?

Actually I checked and the final amount was 10.65%, the ASLOCA estimate was 13%-something. It will begin on my rent anniversery.

So how did the process work: you just sent the Asloca letter to the Regie asking for 13% off, and the Regie came back and said they agree to 10% off?

Yes, I sent it via post recommonde. They took a *while* to process it.

It is tied to the anniversery of the rental contract. Perhaps I could have gained more than 10.65% by going to ASLOCA, but I decided to just accept what the regie proposed.

Mine successly reduced 12.60% last year on same process via Asloca, some points to note:

- needs to be requested at least 3 months prior contract anniversary by recorded letter.

- can only start on anniversary date.

- Regie will often fight it, legal reply 'rent in line with similar in area'

- ASLOCA will issue court request

- Regie will capitulate in almost all cases

- Legal insurance (for eg TCS) will cover all the costs

> Regie will often fight it, legal reply 'rent in line with similar in area'

Yeah, the usual bullshit from Régies. According to the Raiffeisen bank, rents in Geneva are overpriced by 40%.

Go for it everybody. Send them letters all against signature. Until the regies of Geneva respect the law. 

They have to renovate and paint according to a fix schedule and if they do not, then you are allowed to ask for a reduction.

During this process you pay your rent not to the regie, instead you pay it temporarily to asloca.

We do not accept this Geneva trash anymore! 

I completely agree, and also the the Omega man. Foreigners get blamed for high rent prices, but I don't think too many of us expats are landlord.

Jonas M, do you know where I could find information about apartment maintentance, esp painting?

Thanks!

I found this thread, which seems to say different things.

https://www.englishforum.ch/housing-general/264940-painting-responsibility-before-vacating-apartment.html

Does anyone know if there is some limitation period on painting - ie: is it 8 years before the tenant is not responsible for having the paint in moved-in condition, and is there in fact a pro-rata for years lived?

This the page linked in the post, but I don't know how to read it (even after google translate) or if it is an authoritive source.

https://intern.mieterverband.ch/ldt/objekte.php?Gid=5

This page seems to say 10 years is the lifetime for paint.

https://www.homegate.ch/moving/apartment-handover/preparation/service-life-table

https://www.mieterverband.ch/mv/mietrecht-beratung/ratgeber-mietrecht/unterlagen-tools/lebensdauertabelle.html

Also according accounting rules they have to renovate or decrease the value of the property.

Just challenge them and make sure you pay the rent to asloca during the fight. Then you are always safe.

Thanks Jonas M, I guess I need to talk to ASLOCA. Cheers.

AAlways ... they are powerful

Search for tabelle d'amortissement

https://www.ch.ch/fr/location-logement-bail/

I ran the Asloca calculator and got to a potential 17% reduction! I'm going to send the letter to the Regie, we'll see what happens. 

17% wow!! that's awesome!!

For now it's just awesom on paper...(-; Let's see how the 17% does when it's put against the Regie's wall-of-resistance

Good luck! Might be worth talking to ASLOCA if there is a big difference. As I understand it the rates of reduction are pretty well fixed.

Get an asloca membership too. Or la Not expensive. Thé réglé will do nothing because their goal is to earn as much as possible for its client. 

1. Ask for rent reduction due to xy reason and send it post recommandé to the regie. I assume they will say nay.

2. Get asloca membership and ask for a meeting at the nearest asloca office. Then they will allow you to pay your rent due to asloca until you get what you want. 

I have requested a lawyer from Asloca to decrease the price, as the Regie asked for a 10% increase without telling why. The lawyer has definitely intiated the request to the court, by proposing a price decrease more than 30%...it will be soon in April, I keep you guys posted.

Wish everyone good luck in Geneva!

ASLOCA rock!

Your rents normally should move with the " intérêt hypothecaire". It is in your contract for rent.

Below the indicated range you can ask for a reduction and above the window they will impose you a higher rent.

Hi Sean,

thanks for sharing that, very nice of you!

I sent my letter to the regie about 2 weeks ago and now I got a reply! 

I got a reduction of approx 12% - immediately, without any negotiation!

I just generated the letter from the web and sent it! SUPER EASY!!!

THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!

Sean: I think a free dinner is coming your way...

Works for me :-)

Hi NIR. Did u get reduction too. I m curious. Going to Asloca next week 

I was told that I can ask for the reduction only when my current contract is up for renewal, which is next year. Until then, can't touch the price. 

I asked Asloca the same question. They said that it's illigal for the regie to end someone's rent contract just because that someone asked for a discount, and that the regies know that so they don't mess around with it.

I don't know. I can only say what Asloca told me. 

For me, it's worth the risk and I'll ask for the discount when my contract is up for renewal. If they kick me out, I'll come stay with you for a while. 

In my case, I didn’t know when my contract was up for a renewal. I just sent the letter to the regie (Asloca) and they replied to me agreeing with the reduction, starting from the contract anniversary, i.e. 3 months in the future.

Can you mention the name of the regie?

Thanks

I meant the name of the regie is Apleona (not Asloca)

This is the same Regie for me, I did more or less like you, when they asked originally for a 15% increase I simply asked by email, and without any negotiating they dropped the price to a 5% increase. Now, Asloca is helping me to get back to 0 increase or even a lower price. Really a nightmare.

> let's say that yoour contract ends in 3 months, regie can decide to not get it renewed for x,y,z reasons, what's then?

You can always challenge the reasons of non-renewal in front of a court. And since you asked for a rent reduction in the past, the judge will call bullshit on these reasons. Therefore doing a "contestation de loyer" actually protects you.

Is there some special reason, or is it simply because of the change in interest rates and cost of living (index de prix à la consommation)? You seemed to imply that it affected Geneva only ...

What is your regie?

Does anyone has an experience with regie SPG ?

Best is to confirm with Asloca. 

But from what I understood, the reduction is linked to your contract, not to whether the contract is signed via a Regie or directly with the owner. 

Most contracts state that your rent is adjusted on certain periods based on some cost-of-living index and on interest rates. These indexes went down in recent years, so all Asloca's letter does is ask the landlord to comply with the contract and to lower the rent accordingly. So it doesn't matter if there's a regie or not. What matters is what your contract says. 

I had contract for 2015 to 2016. I m living and paying rent still in same appartment. I don't know if it applies to me.

I am with SPG. I just sent the letter produced by ASLOCA about two weeks ago requesting a reduction of about 9% and they I received their response today saying that, according to their calculations, they will only decrease 3%.

All the best for everyone and thanks for sharing the link and experience. 

Sean: I smell another free dinner coming your way...

Looking forward to it :-)

Hi Hussein,

That's quite a difference. If I were you I'd drop into ASLOCA and show them the letter.

Good luck,

Sean