Giving notice and leaving early: the replacement-tenant rule
Ordinary notice usually means three months to a customary date. If you want to go sooner, a suitable replacement tenant gets you out of the contract early, provided the formalities are right.
Ordinary notice
- Notice period (flats)
- At least three months, to a locally customary date (Art. 266c CO)
- Form
- In writing; a family home requires both signatures
- What counts
- Receipt by the landlord, not the postmark
Receipt is what counts: a registered letter collected on 1 April counts as served only then. To give notice for 31 March, send it early enough and keep the proof.
Early return with a replacement tenant
Under Art. 264 CO a tenant is freed from their obligations by presenting a replacement who is suitable, solvent and willing to take over the lease on the same terms. The landlord may vet that person but may not refuse without good reason. If the refusal has no substance, your duty to pay ends on the proposed date anyway.
- 1Find a replacement and ask them for a full dossier, the same papers you had to produce yourself.
- 2Put the proposal to the landlord in writing by registered post, with the handover date you want.
- 3Allow a reasonable time to consider it; two to three weeks is usual.
- 4Keep paying the rent until handover, and show people round.
- 5If they say no, ask for the reasons in writing. Without a solid reason your obligation ends regardless.
One replacement is enough. The common demand for three candidates rests on no law, though it does raise the odds that one of them is accepted.
These articles set out Swiss law in general terms and are not a substitute for legal advice on an individual case. Cantonal rules differ. In a dispute, contact the rent conciliation authority or a lawyer.