If you are a landlord and you want to terminate a lease for commercial premises or accommodation, you are obliged to use the official form, otherwise the termination is void. In Geneva there are two official forms approved by the Council of State, the notice of termination of the lease, this form is blue, and the notice of termination of the lease in case of arrears by the tenant (art. 257 d of the Code of Obligations), this is the pink form. You should not use the wrong form. If you use the pink notice of termination, you must have previously complied with the form and the notice periods laid down by the law.

If you have concluded several leases with a tenant, you must use a form for each lease, for example, if you have concluded a lease for a flat and a lease for the jointly rented parking space.

Ordinary or extraordinary termination

A lease with fixed term ends on the agreed date without termination. A lease with an indefinite term may be terminated in the ordinary way by observing the legally prescribed notice periods and termination dates. If certain conditions are met, early termination by the landlord will be possible, for example if the tenant is in arrears.

Notice and notice period

As a landlord, you must respect a notice of termination and the term of lease. Under current tenancy law, the shortest notice is 3 months for residential accommodation, 6 months for commercial premises and 14 days for the end of month for furnished rooms, parking spaces and other similar facilities rented seperately. These minimum periods of notice are legally binding and my not be shorter, but longer.

In the event of early termination, residential and commercial leases may be terminated with 30 days notice by the end of a month.

The notice period for a parking space or similar facility rented together with a flat or business premises corresponds to the notice period for the main object. In the case of mixed use, e.g. residential and commercial premises, the predominant use is to be chosen.

If no termination date has been agreed, it is provided by local custom or by law. In Geneva, there is no local custom. In this case, articles 266b to 266 e of the Code of Obligations must be applied, i.e. the term for a dwelling or commercial premises is the end of a quarter from the beginning of the lease. Other buildings, such as stables, sheds or cellars, may be terminated by the end of a half-year (or with a period of three months for the term fixed by local custom).

 If the notice period and the termination date have not been observed, the termination takes effect for the next relevant term.

Motivation

You do not have to state the reason for the leave on the form, but if the tenant requestes it, you are obliged to reply.

Family accommodation

If the tenants are married or in a partnership, you will need to send a form by separate mail to each of the couple, even if the lease has been drawn up for ony one of them. See also my article about: Termination of lease for a family dwelling

Signature

The notice must be signed by the owner or the real estate manager or another attorney. The signature must be handwritten. An authenticated electronic signature combined with an authenticated time stamp is treated in the same way as a handwirtten signature according to the art. 14 para 2 of the Swiss Code of Obligations.

Notification

Notice of termination of the lease for commercial premises or for residential premises must be sent by registered mail.

Notice of termination is subject to the principle of receipt. For a registered letter, receipt is on the day the notice of withdrawal is deposited in the post office box, if it was put in during business hours and if the letter can be collected on the same day. For a letter-box holder, the letter is deemed to be received at the latest on the first day following the delivery attempt.

Reactions of the tenant

The tenant may accept the cancellation or object to it. He may submit his request for objection within 30 days of receipt to the Conciliation Board for Leases and Rents.

Conclusion

Termination of the lease must be done properly, otherwise it may be cancelled or void. There are numerous articles of law concerning the termination of a lease.

 © Written and translated by Esther Lauber, Real Estate Trustee with Advanced Federal Diploma of Professional Education and Training, real estate manager
Legal terms taken from the portal of the Swiss goverment (Swiss laws), partly translated from French to English with DeepL, in case of doubt, the French or Germain version should apply

More information that may be of interest to you:

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