Terminating your lease contract

You have two options to terminate your lease contract:

• Three months before the anniversary date of the lease: you send a registered letter to the régie, stating that you wish to terminate the lease on the anniversary date of the lease. Please note that the régie must receive this document three months in advance; so allow an extra 1-2 days to be on the safe side and also send an e-mail.
• You can use the early termination option and hand over the lease (to somebody else) with one month’s notice for the middle or end of the month: send a registered letter to the régie, stating the date you wish to terminate the lease AND present one or two solvent candidates who agree to take over the lease on the same terms as you. There are three possible outcomes:
  • The régie confirms the termination unconditionally in writing on the due date. All is well.
  • The régie confirms the termination by accepting one of the candidates you have put forward. If the applicant confirms their interest in taking over the lease: all is well, the régie accepts the termination.
  • If the candidate(s) presented do(es) not wish to take over the flat, you will remain bound by the lease until someone agrees to take over the lease.

This is why it is advisable to send several applications and to follow up on them.

Don’t forget that the termination letter must be signed by all the parties to the lease.

Cancelling/Terminating your electricity provider account

To cancel your account with SIG (the electricity supplier in Geneva), log in to your SIG account or to their website to complete the steps online.

Terminating your Wi-Fi subscription

The cancellation procedure varies from company to company and from situation to situation.

If you move elsewhere in Switzerland, you can keep the same contract for the new address.

If you leave Switzerland, some companies charge substantial early termination fees and require a Certificate of Departure. You can order a “Certificate of Departure” from the OCPM for CHF 25.- (see below).

We recommend that you contact your Wi-Fi provider as soon as possible to find out how to proceed.

Notifying the OCPM of your departure/change of address in Switzerland

If you are leaving Geneva for another canton or another country, you must inform the OCPM of this departure, at least two weeks before the departure date, by following the instructions on this page (in French only).

If you need a Certificate of Departure, this must also be requested from the OCPM on this page (in French only). This document costs CHF 25.- .

You must also notify the tax authorities of your departure from Geneva at least two weeks before your departure date, following the instructions on this page (in French only).

Check-out inspection visit

Upon receipt of your termination letter, the régie will probably arrange a preliminary inspection. The aim is to check whether any work needs to be carried out and who will have to pay for it. This visit will help you prepare for the check-out inspection visit when you leave.

If you have to pay for any work/repairs, you may be able to do some of them yourself (e.g. change a shower hose, patch up small holes in the walls), ask your personal liability insurance company to pay for some of the damage and/or negotiate a fair share of the costs with the régie, taking into account the depreciation table https://uspi-vaud.ch/documents/# (in French only).

On the last day of your lease contract, you will carry out a check-out inspection visit with a representative of the régie. This inspection visit is very important, because if everything goes well, the régie will agree to release your bank guarantee deposit. It is at this point that you will hand over all the keys to the accommodation to the régie. You will need to have emptied and cleaned the flat before the check-out inspection visit.

For more information, read the article entitled “How to carry out a check-out inspection visit in Switzerland” (in French only).

To make sure you don’t forget anything, take inspiration from the checklist prepared by the USPI, available here.

Preparation: you can call a cleaning company before the check-out inspection visit, to ensure that it meets the required expectations. Ask for several quotes.