Report Defects and Reduce Your Rent

Four template letters from the defect notice to depositing the rent, and at every step it says what happens if you skip it. Including the order this fails on in practice.

Checked on 21 August 2026 by Jens Herbst, BoVitaWe keep every document current and check it regularly against the sources.

Who is this document for?

For tenants with a defect in the flat: mould, noise, broken heating, leaking windows. Also when nothing has happened despite several reports.

What is inside

  • Defect notice letter that proves when the rent reduction starts
  • Deadline letter with the warning about the deposit that the law requires
  • Letter announcing the deposit to the landlord
  • The deposit as six fixed steps, because a skipped step means default on rent
  • Recording sheet for the defect with photos, measurements and a noise log

How to fill it in

  1. 1Open the file in Word, Pages or Google Docs and replace every field in square brackets.
  2. 2Record the defect first: photos with a date, and for noise a log over several days.
  3. 3Send the defect notice by registered mail, even if you already reported it orally.
  4. 4Only once the deadline has passed unused does the deposit follow, and only in its order.
  5. 5After the first payment: file a request with the conciliation authority within 30 days.

Frequently asked questions

For tenants in Switzerland with a defect that impairs the use of the flat: mould, persistent noise, failed heating, leaking windows. It works for flats, rooms and shared-flat rooms.

No, and that is the most expensive misunderstanding on this topic. Simply not paying, or paying only part, is default on rent, and after a warning the landlord can terminate with 30 days' notice. The legal route is called depositing: you pay the full rent, but to the cantonal office instead of the landlord. It then counts as paid.

From the moment the landlord learned of the defect until it is remedied (Art. 259d CO). Not from a decision, and not from the day you go to the conciliation authority. That is exactly why a written, dated defect notice is the most important step.

You lose the money. Deposited rents accrue to the landlord if you do not assert your claims before the conciliation authority within 30 days of the first deposited rent falling due (Art. 259h para. 1 CO). The defect is still there and the money is gone.

No. Only rents falling due in future may be deposited (Art. 259g para. 1 CO). What you already owe remains owed.

If the template alone is not enough

Let it fill itself inreport apartment defects switzerlandThe tool does the same work, just without the typing.

What this document is based on

Every provision is checked against the wording of the consolidated version. The links lead straight to the federal statute.

  • OR Art. 259a · Rechte der Mietenden bei Maengeln

    If defects arise that the tenant is neither responsible for nor obliged to remedy, the tenant can demand: removal of the defect, a proportionate reduction of the rent, damages, and for immovable property that the landlord takes over a dispute with a third party.

    OR Art. 259a Abs. 1 und 2, SR 220 · Status 01.01.2026

  • OR Art. 259b · Was gilt, wenn die Vermieterschaft den Mangel nicht beseitigt

    If the landlord knows of a defect and does not remedy it within a reasonable period, the tenant may terminate without notice where the defect excludes or substantially impairs fitness for use, or have the defect remedied at the landlord's expense.

    OR Art. 259b Bst. a und b, SR 220 · Status 01.01.2026

  • OR Art. 259d · Herabsetzung des Mietzinses bei Maengeln

    Where fitness for the agreed use is impaired or reduced, the tenant can demand a corresponding reduction of the rent, from the moment the landlord LEARNED of the defect until it is remedied.

    OR Art. 259d, SR 220 · Status 01.01.2026

  • OR Art. 259g · Hinterlegung des Mietzinses, Voraussetzungen

    A tenant demanding removal of a defect must set a reasonable deadline IN WRITING and may threaten to deposit rents falling due in future with an office designated by the canton. The deposit must be announced to the landlord in writing. Deposited rents count as paid.

    OR Art. 259g Abs. 1 und 2, SR 220 · Status 01.01.2026

  • OR Art. 259h · Hinterlegte Mietzinse verfallen ohne Schlichtungsgesuch

    Deposited rents ACCRUE TO THE LANDLORD if the tenant has not asserted their claims before the conciliation authority within 30 days of the FIRST deposited rent falling due.

    OR Art. 259h Abs. 1 und 2, SR 220 · Status 01.01.2026

When the document alone is not enough

In tenancy matters the conciliation procedure is free of charge. You need no lawyer, and the authority also gives advice.

Find the conciliation authority of your cantonSwiss Tenants' AssociationAdvice, fact sheets and template letters (in German)

Looking for a room, not just documents?

BoVita rents furnished shared rooms with all-in rent in Aarau, Wohlen, St. Gallen and Brugg. Reply within 48 hours on working days.

See locations and available rooms

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