Hi Saso,

Try to get an appointment with Asloca ( http://www.asloca.ch/asloca-gen%C3%A8ve ).

They have lawyers who specialize in tenant rights and they can explain the contract to you and tell you what to do / change.

Registration costs something like CHF 100, but well worth it if they help you avoid issues.

Good luck,

Oded

The thing is they want us to sign it today. Got it in the morning so I have no time to do that - otherwise I heard of them and for sure would be helpful.

Thanks!

They love to put the pressure on...

Try calling CAGI (http://www.cagi.ch/en/contacts.php).

When I had a question re my rental contract they were able to advise me right away on the phone.

O

I have the same clause in my contract, I think its not so unusual and they would only end the contract if you didn’t pay or you did something against the contract terms (at least I hope or very soon I will, be getting a letter saying on 31.03.2014 I should be out leave my apt)

I think it is the normal contract here in CH. It is renewable each year... or actually, it is automatically renewed - but you have to cancel the lease so and so many months before the end of the contract to be able to get out without having to find new tenants.

It is clearly stated that it is NOT renewable. Meaning that next year they will give us another 1 year contract - not just renew this one.

This is technically to avoid the use of diplomatic clause since if it is the first year of a contract it is not valid. So they want to give us 3 or 4x 1 year contract not a renewable contract after 1 year.

"Le present bail est conclu pour une duree de 12 mois a terme fixe, sans renouvellement."

And they added tons of charges to it...

If this is with Regie Zimmerman, it's normal and their way of making sure that they don't have undesirable tenants indefinitely. As long as you don't give them or the neighbors any problems and the owner doens't want the flat back, you can stay there as long as you like...

My employer who pays the rent (government) is not happy with that since with this they totally rule out the diplomatic clause for the whole duration and not just 1st year.

so I guess there is no way of changing this if it is their standard practise... I'll have to find another regie then...

In Geneva you can break a lease at anytime (not just on the year anniversary, as in this case) as long as you find someone solvable to take over your contact. If the apartment is a one or 2 bedroom place and not too expensive, you should always be able to find someone. If it's a larger house, you'll have difficulties - since it's Zimmerman, it's probably a smaller place that you'd easily be able to find a replacement for, so I would think twice about starting the search again and changing regies.

Thank you for your help!

We will see if they could change some legal things because they are not acceptable by our employer and lease payer and if it all goes well I hope we can sign it.