Eviction of a tenant

According to an article published on 21 July 2025 in the newspaper 24heures, ‘More and more tenants are being evicted from their homes, and this is worrying.’ This article provides an opportunity to review the procedure for evicting a tenant for non-payment of the rent.

According to the article, ‘forced evictions are on the rise in Geneva and the canton of Vaud. Elsewhere, tenants are under pressure. Swiss tenancy law favours rapid evictions in the event of unpaid rent.’ What does tenancy law provide for, and is the eviction procedure really that quick and easy?

The relationship between a landlord and a tenant is a private contract governed by Articles 253 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO). However, contractual freedom is not complete in this area. The Swiss legislature has made certain provisions of the CO mandatory in order to protect tenants. Tenant protection therefore lies ‘halfway between private law and public law’[[1]].

Under Article 253 CO, a lease is a contract whereby the landlord undertakes to transfer the use of a property to the tenant in return for rent. The payment of a rent is an essential element of the lease agreement. Without payment of a rent, there is no lease agreement.

Thus, the tenant’s first obligation is to pay the rent.

Under Article 257c CO, ‘the tenant must pay the rent and, where applicable, ancillary costs at the end of each month, but no later than the expiry of the lease, unless otherwise agreed or unless local custom dictates otherwise’.

In the canton of Vaud, the “Dispositions paritaires romandes” (joint provisions for the French-speaking part of Switzerland) and the “Règles et Usages locatifs du canton de Vaud” (rental rules and practices for the canton of Vaud) stipulate that ‘rent, advance payments for heating and ancillary costs are payable monthly in advance at the landlord’s domicile or to their postal or bank account’.

As soon as the tenant is late in paying the rent, they are ‘in default’. Article 257d CO expressly regulates the case of default by the tenant.

According to Article 257d § 1 CO, “if, after taking possession of the property, the tenant is in arrears with a payment or ancillary costs, the landlord may set a deadline for payment in writing and inform the tenant that, if payment is not made by that date, the lease will be terminated. This period shall be at least ten days and, for residential or commercial leases, at least 30 days.”

In other words, when the tenants do not pay their rent, the landlord must write to them and set a payment deadline in the letter. This is known as a formal notice. The period set by the landlord for the tenant must be at least 30 days for residential and commercial leases. It is therefore not possible to set a period shorter than 30 days for this type of premises.

The letter that the landlord must send must be clear. It must contain a clear request to the tenant to pay. The amount to be paid must be specified or quantified, or must at least be determinable with certainty (for example, by stating ‘the unpaid rent for August 2025’).

The letter must also contain a threat of termination. In other words, it must state that if payment is not made within the specified period, the lease will be terminated.

If the lease is for a family dwelling, the letter must be sent to each spouse or registered partner in a separate letter. If the lease is concluded by co-tenants, the letter must be sent to all of them, but not necessarily in separate letters.

It is only after the expiry of the payment period specified in the formal notice that the landlord may terminate the lease.

However, the payment period does not start from the date the formal notice is sent, but from the day after the tenant receives it.

It is up to the landlord to prove the date of receipt by the tenant and it is therefore strongly recommended that the notice be sent by registered letter.

Receipt is deemed to have taken place when the tenant collects the registered letter from the post office or on the last day of the seven-day holding period if the tenant has not collected the letter.

If the landlord knows that the tenant has not collected the registered letter, it is advisable to send it again or to send the letter again by ordinary post or even by email.

As mentioned above, once the notice of termination has been received by the tenant and the payment deadline has passed without effect, i.e. if the tenant has not paid, the landlord can terminate the lease.

This termination – which is considered early termination – must be made in writing and with a minimum notice period of 30 days for the end of a month for residential leases and commercial premises.

The termination of the lease must be made using an official form.

If the lease relates to a family home, the official form must be sent to each spouse or registered partner by separate letter.

The landlord must be cautious because a termination of the lease that occurs too early, i.e. before the end of the payment deadline, may be null and void or voidable.

A prudent landlord will also set a date for the tenant to carry out an inventory of fixtures.

If the tenant does not leave the apartment on the date of the inventory or on the date of expiry of the lease, the landlord may then initiate eviction proceedings.

If the facts are simple and clear, the landlord can take action through the clear case procedure. In the canton of Vaud, this procedure is conducted before the “Juge de paix”. The procedure is summary and is therefore supposed to be quick.

However, ‘quick’ means a few months, i.e. approximately between two and six months, in summary proceedings.

If the situation is not simple or clear, the landlord must take the ‘ordinary’ route. In the canton of Vaud, they must first refer the matter to the conciliation commission, which in principle sets a hearing within two to three months. Once the conciliation phase has ended without agreement or the tenant leaving, they must refer the matter to the “Tribunal des baux” and the proceedings on the merits begin.

This ‘ordinary’ route and the proceedings on the merits take approximately one to two years, or even longer depending on the circumstances.

In all cases, regardless of whether the facts are simple and clear, the tenant can always contest the termination of the lease.

If the authority seized, whether in summary proceedings or ‘ordinary’ proceedings, orders eviction, the judge sets a deadline for the tenant to vacate the premises.

This period is left to the discretion of the judge and varies depending on the circumstances. It can therefore be almost immediate or a few days or weeks, or even one or two months.

And the procedure does not end there!

The tenant has the option of appealing against the authority’s decision.

If they do not appeal or if the decision is upheld, and if the tenant still does not vacate the property within the time limit set by the judge, the landlord must ask the judicial authority to enforce the decision, i.e. the actual and effective eviction of the tenant with the support of the police.

In principle, this enforcement or eviction by the police is carried out by the police, in the presence of a locksmith and also in the presence of a removal company or a company responsible for clearing the flat, or even storing and keeping the furniture if the flat is not empty.

Thus, if the situation is simple or clear, the landlord reacts quickly, respecting the deadlines set in the CO, and the tenant does not contest the decisions, the eviction can take place within approximately six months.

If the case is more complicated and the tenant disputes the decisions, the procedure is of course much longer.

Regardless of the length of the procedure, in the meantime, the landlord does not receive any rent or charges in connection with the apartment and will certainly never recover them if the tenant’s financial situation is difficult.

In addition to this financial loss, i.e. the loss of rent for several months, the landlord must also advance all the costs of the proceedings, as well as the costs of the locksmith and the removal company, and even the costs of storage if the flat was not empty.

These costs can amount to several thousand Swiss francs.

Thus, although Swiss tenancy law provides for the possibility of early termination of the lease in the event of non-payment of rent and allows the landlord to request eviction, evicting a tenant is not as ‘quick’ and simple as the article published on 21 July 2025 in the newspaper 24heures might suggest. It takes several months and is very costly for the landlord, who receives no rent during the entire procedure.

Landlords are therefore advised to act quickly, paying attention to the mandatory deadlines and seeking advice, and tenants are obviously advised to pay their rent on time and without delay, or to contact their landlord in the event of financial difficulties and seek assistance from the relevant services if their financial situation is difficult.

[1] Le Bail à loyer (The Rental Lease), David Lachat and Karin Grobet Thorens, Xavier Rublic, Pierre Stastny, 2019 edition, Asloca, p. 37