Reclaim your rental deposit: how to force your Swiss Mietzinsdepot free, with a free release letter and the one-year trick against the silent landlord
Your CHF 5,700 depositis sitting on a blocked account, the flat was handed back long ago, and the landlord simply won't respond? You don't have to beg. The money is yours, held on an account in your name, and the law gives you a lever that forces the bank to pay out, whether the landlord likes it or not. Here's the free release letter, the traffic light that tells you if you're already entitled, and the calculator that gives you the exact date.
💡 Before you demand: who actually owns the deposit?
The most important news first: the deposit is and remains your money. In Switzerland the landlord may demand a deposit, but for flats at most three months' rent (Art. 257e para. 2 CO). This money must be placed on a blocked account at a bank, opened exclusively in your name. If your deposit sits on the landlord's private or business account, that is simply unlawful, and in the event of bankruptcy you would be unprotected.
Because the account is in your name, no one can access it alone, neither you nor the landlord. The bank keeps it blockedand releases it only under clear conditions. This is where many fail: they wait passively for the landlord's signature. Yet nothing forces you to. The law knows several routes to release, and the strongest, the one-year rule, works even against a landlord who disappears. The interest on the account also belongs to you, by the way.
The deposit is blocked. The bank pays it out only in these three precise cases (Art. 257e para. 3 CO):
✉️ Your release letter in 2 minutes
No more searching for «deposit release letter template». Enter your details and the generator builds you a clean, formally correct demand letter to the landlord or agency: it demands the release of your deposit, sets a deadline and politely but firmly recalls the one-year rule as leverage. Download as PDF, sign, send by registered mail. You can also copy the text. If the lease ended more than a year ago and the landlord is still silent, send the same letter directly to the bank.
🛠️ Deposit-release letter generator
Enter your details → ready letter with deadline and the Art. 257e CO lever, as PDF or to copy. Free, no sign-up.
🚦 Can you already request the release?
This is where the real value of this page sits. No other portal tells you so directly whether you can act now. The ConvivaPlus eligibility check asks you four questions and shows you in a second whether you can go straight to the bank (green), whether you should firstformally demand from the landlord or call conciliation (amber), or whether the deposit stays blocked for now (red).
🚦 ConvivaPlus eligibility check
Four questions, and you know whether you can reclaim the deposit now.
Has the tenancy already ended and the flat been handed back?
Is there debt enforcement, a lawsuit or conciliation pending over the deposit?
Did the lease end more than one year ago?
Has the landlord raised an open claim (damage, unpaid rent)?
How the ConvivaPlus check judges:if the tenancy hasn't ended or proceedings are pending, the deposit stays blocked (red). If it ended over a year ago with no proceedings, you can go straight to the bank (green). In all other cases a written demand or conciliation is worthwhile (amber). This reading is the one according to ConvivaPlus, derived from Art. 257e CO.
📅 When exactly does the bank release? The calculator
A single date decides when you no longer need the landlord: lease end plus one year. Enter your lease end and the ConvivaPlus release-date calculatorgives you the exact day from which the bank must pay without consent, the usual 30-day window for a clean handover, and, if the landlord doesn't pay despite the debt falling due, your default interest of 5% per year (Art. 104 CO).
📅 ConvivaPlus release-date calculator
Enter the lease end → exact date of direct bank release, the usual return window and your default interest.
Guideline values without warranty. If debt enforcement, a lawsuit or conciliation is pending, the deposit stays blocked until the decision.
How the ConvivaPlus calculator works: direct bank release follows from the lease end plus exactly twelve months (Art. 257e para. 3 CO). The usual 30-day window applies as a practical guideline for a defect-free handover (not as a rigid statutory deadline). Default interest is 5% per year (Art. 104 CO), calculated on the entered deposit amount.
📊 How much deposit is normal? The ConvivaPlus deposit index
Because the deposit equals three months' rent, its size depends directly on your region. The ConvivaPlus deposit index shows you the deposit to expect for a typical 3.5-room flat, from around CHF 3,450 in the countryside to CHF 6,450 in Zug. Enter your deposit and see whether it sits within the regional range, or whether the landlord has gone beyond the permitted three months' rent.
📊 ConvivaPlus deposit index
Typical deposit (3 gross monthly rents, 3.5-room flat) by region. Compare your deposit.
Guideline values (3 gross monthly rents of a typical 3.5-room flat), based on FSO rent statistics + Homegate/ImmoScout24 listings, as of 2026. For flats, at most 3 months' rent is permitted (Art. 257e para. 2 CO).
How the ConvivaPlus deposit index is built:we multiply the typical gross monthly rent of a 3.5-room flat per region by three (the statutory cap for flats) and set the Swiss average of around CHF 4,500 at index 100. The data basis is the FSO rent statistics and current listings. If your deposit clearly exceeds the regional value, it's worth checking the three-month limit.
📋 What may the landlord actually deduct from the deposit?
The most common reason for a withheld deposit is alleged damage. Yet the landlord is far from being able to deduct everything. The rule: normal wear and tear is on them, real damage only on a depreciated-value basis (i.e. less age and service life). This table shows what is genuinely deductible. How much a damage is still worth by its service life is calculated by the wear-and-tear calculator in the handover-protocol guide.
| Item | Deductible? | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Normal wear (usual drill holes, worn carpet, minor signs of use) | ✗ No | landlord's responsibility, covered by the rent |
| Real damage (burn hole, cracked basin, pet scratches) | ✓ Yes, depreciated value | less age / service life (parity table) |
| Final cleaning if the flat is handed back dirty | ✓ Yes | only the actual costs, with receipt |
| Outstanding rent or ancillary-cost balance | ✓ Yes | due claim arising from the tenancy |
| Renovation, value increase, age-related replacement | ✗ No | owner's investment, not transferable |
| Administrative flat fee for the settlement | ✗ No | without legal basis |
🛡️ Deposit or deposit insurance, which is better when reclaiming?
Instead of blocking money on an account, you can also secure the deposit through a deposit insurance (a guarantee). When reclaiming, the two models behave fundamentally differently, and that decides whether you get your money back in the end, or never had any.
Your capital is blocked, but it stays yours. On departure you get it back with interest once the release happens or the one-year period lapses. Downside: the money is tied up for the entire tenancy.
You block no capital but pay an annual premium of around 4 to 5% of the deposit sum (at AXA 4% plus 5% stamp duty, at goCaution from CHF 94.50 a year). Advantage: full liquidity. Caution: here there is nothing to reclaim at the end, the premiums are gone.
For a deposit of CHF 5,700 you pay around CHF 230 to 285 in premium per year. Over ten years that's CHF 2,300 to 2,850, without ever getting a cent back. After roughly 17 to 25 years the premiums exceed the deposit itself.
⚠️ The five costliest mistakes when reclaiming
Avoiding these mistakes means getting your deposit back faster and in full:
Leaving the deposit on the landlord's account.It must be on a blocked account in your name. If it's elsewhere, demand the correct deposit immediately, otherwise your money is lost in a bankruptcy.
Signing the handover protocol carelessly.It's the most important evidence. Note every defect, take photos, and never sign «all in order» under pressure if it isn't.
Accepting more than three months' rent.For flats that's the statutory cap (Art. 257e para. 2 CO). If more was demanded, you can reclaim the excess.
Waiting passively for the signature. If the landlord stays silent, the one-year clock runs anyway. Set them a written deadline early and go straight to the bank after a year.
Paying for normal wear as if it were damage.Worn carpets and usual drill holes are the landlord's responsibility. Have every deduction presented on a depreciated-value basis and with a receipt before agreeing.
The deposit is your money on your account. The landlord can block it, but after a year they can no longer hold it.
✅ Reclaim the full amount in 6 steps
Here's how to reclaim your deposit step by step, from move-out to the transfer:
The one-year trick in detail: the period starts with the actual end of the tenancy, not the day of your last demand. So write a dated demand letter right after moving out, file it away, and exactly twelve months after the lease ends, Art. 257e para. 3 CO forces the bank to pay out, however stubborn the landlord. You then only need the notice of termination and the handover protocol as proof that the tenancy ended more than a year ago.
How did your deposit refund go?
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❓ Frequently asked questions about the deposit
The key questions on getting the rental deposit back, answered briefly and concretely.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch
One year after the lease ends, the bank must pay out your rental deposit even without the landlord's consent, if they have started no debt enforcement, lawsuit or conciliation by then (Art. 257e para. 3 CO).
What else helps you at move-out
Templates and guides around tenancy, handover and moving out
Discussion
5 voices from the community
Genau mein Fall, gäll. Verwaltung hat sich nach dem Auszug einfach nicht mehr gemeldet. Nach dem Brief mit Frist kam plötzlich die Unterschrift. Hätte ich das mit der 1-Jahres-Frist früher gewusst, hätte ich gar nicht so lange genervt.
Merci fürs Teilen, Manuela. Genau so ist es gedacht: Der Brief mit Frist plus der Hinweis auf Art. 257e Abs. 3 OR wirkt oft schon, bevor das Jahr überhaupt um ist. Schön, kam dein Depot zurück.
Wichtiger Punkt mit der zeitwertbereinigten Abrechnung. Mein Vermieter wollte einen kompletten neuen Teppich verrechnen, dabei war der schon 12 Jahre alt. Mit der Lebensdauer-Tabelle blieb fast nichts übrig zum Abziehen.
Der Termin-Rechner ist super praktisch. Ich wusste gar nicht, dass das Datum so genau zählt. Bei mir sind es noch 4 Monate, dann gehe ich direkt zur Bank.
Danke, Sofia. Tipp: Schreib jetzt schon ein datiertes Aufforderungsschreiben und leg es ab. Dann hast du den Nachweis, dass du rechtzeitig aktiv warst, falls es doch noch Diskussionen gibt.
ConvivaPlus Editorial
TemplatesResearched and verified. Facts, not opinions.
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