The eight steps
- Set the rent. A rent is abusive if it brings an excessive return from the flat (Art. 269 OR). Under the conditions of Art. 270 Abs. 1 OR, the tenant can challenge the starting rent within 30 days after taking over the flat.
- Decide the ancillary costs. The tenant owes them only if this was specially agreed (Art. 257a Abs. 2 OR). Name each item in the lease.
- Advertise with rent, ancillary costs and move-in date.
- Show the flat and collect applications. The FDPIC leaflet on application forms, updated 15 July 2025, says what you may ask. Marital status, religion and nationality are in principle not admissible.
- Choose by objective criteria written down beforehand.
- Sign the lease. A lease is usually put in writing (ch.ch). Where the canton requires it, use the official form for the starting rent (Art. 270 Abs. 2 OR). Per the 2026 directory of the Federal Office for Housing (BWO), these are Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Lucerne, Zug and Zurich, and parts of Neuchâtel and Vaud.
- Take the deposit. For a flat, at most three months' rent, placed with a bank in a savings account or deposit in the tenant's name (Art. 257e OR).
- Hand over the flat at the agreed time, in a condition fit for the intended use (Art. 256 Abs. 1 OR). If a return protocol was drawn up when the last tenant left, show it on request, and state the previous rent if asked (Art. 256a OR). Write a new protocol together and sign it.
If you end the lease later
| Rule | Article |
|---|---|
| Notice in writing, on a form approved by the canton, otherwise void | Art. 266l, 266o OR |
| Three months' notice for flats, to a date customary in the place, unless a longer period was agreed | Art. 266a, 266c OR |
The selection step, with aptari
On aptari, applications arrive as a sorted shortlist. Every applicant is rated by the same rules, with the facts shown, and documents are read once at upload. You decide. aptari never decides and never declines automatically.
Example: if 40 applications come in and each takes 10 minutes to read and compare, that is 400 minutes, almost 7 hours. If a sorted list lets you read in depth the 8 at the top, that is 80 minutes. An example, not a promise.
Starter costs CHF 0 with 1 active listing and a 14-day Growth trial. After the trial, Starter includes 5 Match Scores a month. No setup fee, no fee per applicant.
Taxes are outside this page: ask your cantonal tax office or a tax adviser.
This is general information, not legal advice.