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I am looking for apartments to rent in Switzerland and I came across a bank operation that is rather new to me. In order to put down the security deposit, I would have to do the following:

  1. Fill in a form with my personal data alongside my landlords' (form given by my landlord).
  2. The bank opens a new account "in my name" where I would deposit the money.
  3. At the end of the rent contract I would receive this money back.

I've never heard of such operation, usually the apartments I've rented (elsewhere in Europe) I would just deposit the money in a given account. Why is this being made? Could this be a scam somehow?

I should mention I'm young, not Swiss, and moving from abroad into Switzerland, which could make me a potential target for a scam.

Giacomo1968
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embedded_dev
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4 Answers4

42

This is normal for Switzerland, it's called "Rental surety savings account" or "Rental Deposit Savings Account" and banks invest a lot to automate opening and closing such accounts, as it's a mass business.

There are also some providers who offer an insurance with an annual fee if you don't have the lump sum, see rental-guarantee-comparison.

The account is in your name but the money is locked until the landlord releases it. The money could go towards paying rent owed or paying for repairs if you damage the property beyond normal usage.

Bob Baerker
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Alex R
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13

I know that in Germany similar things exist - the main idea is that the money is still under your name, and only blocked by the landlord during your rental. As a consequence, the landlord cannot simply access the money and spend it for personal use - and at the end of the rental, when you find out, you'd have to sue after him to get it back from a foreclosure or worse.
I cannot confirm for sure that this is 'normal' in Switzerland, I simply don't know. But it is normal in Germany, and it seems to make sense.

Aganju
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I can't speak for Switzerland but there is a "bond escrow" for tenants in New Zealand where your security deposit is held, and only released afterward back to the renter, or to the landlord if there's proven damage.

The money is held by a government department named Tenancy Services. Further details https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/rent-bond-and-bills/bond/

So this is not implausible, but you're right to check because it is possible some malicious actor is duplicating a similar service. Keep checking locally.

Criggie
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This exists in Belgium, too. I am only fluent enough in the Flemish part of how it works, but it's called "huurwaarborg" (~"rent security/guarantee") and is placed on an account that's on the tenant's name but is blocked from withdrawal and there's some additional legal plumbing that happens from the landlord's side.

This page outlines the conditions (lower down, screoll to "huurwaarborg" if the link does not do it for you:)

De huurder stort een bedrag gelijk aan maximaal 3 maanden huur op een geblokkeerde bankrekening op zijn naam.

The tenant deposits an amount equal to maximum 3 months of rent on a blocked bank account in their name.

Bob Baerker
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htmlcoderexe
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