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Dzevad Smajovic (46) still can’t believe it. “I have to pay almost 18,000 francs for additional costs,” he laments in an interview with Blick. “This is horror.” Smajovic lives with his family of four in a 4.5-room first-floor apartment in Huttwil BE. He is one of many disgruntled tenants who have filed lawsuits against property management companies over incomprehensible bills.
The Smajovic family received the highest billing to date. In total, he must pay almost 25,000 francs for additional expenses for three years, including monthly payments of 190 francs. That’s just under 700 francs a month! “This is definitely usury,” says Smajovic. His family would suddenly be paying 2,400 francs a month for housing instead of 1,900 francs. He doesn’t know how they’re going to shoulder this. He is currently paying an additional payment of 4,000 francs for the year 2019/2020.
Arbitration committees have their hands full. The Federal Statistical Office’s figures for the first half of 2023 also show this. The number of arbitration proceedings in the rental and leasing sector increased by 42.2 percent compared to the same period last year. According to the Federal Housing Office, this increase is likely related to the increase in the reference interest rate.
A total of 4,601 new arbitration cases were filed in the canton of Zurich; This figure is more than double compared to the previous year. Procedures in the cantons of Lucerne, Schwyz and Uri also more than doubled. A total of 23,723 arbitration cases were heard in the first half of the year. 13,395 of these have been completed. However, no agreement was reached in a total of 2024 cases, which means that a lawsuit can now be filed. A new wave of rent shortages is expected as the reference interest rate continues to rise on December 1. (smt)
Arbitration committees have their hands full. The Federal Statistical Office’s figures for the first half of 2023 also show this. The number of arbitration proceedings in the rental and leasing sector increased by 42.2 percent compared to the same period last year. According to the Federal Housing Office, this increase is likely related to the increase in the reference interest rate.
A total of 4,601 new arbitration cases were filed in the canton of Zurich; This figure is more than double compared to the previous year. Procedures in the cantons of Lucerne, Schwyz and Uri also more than doubled. A total of 23,723 arbitration cases were heard in the first half of the year. 13,395 of these have been completed. However, no agreement was reached in a total of 2024 cases, which means that a lawsuit can now be filed. A new wave of rent shortages is expected as the reference interest rate continues to rise on December 1. (smt)
When you look at the bill, you realize that the family’s water consumption is extremely high. “Unfortunately, I haven’t found the pool in our apartment yet,” Smajovic says with gallows humor, and then gets serious again: “I don’t know how the management comes up with these amounts. “No one here reads the water meter.”
Management wants to host the family
The management emphasizes that everything was done correctly when reading the meters. According to Crowdhouse’s media spokesperson Michael Meier, the reason for the high measurements is “the Smajovics’ extraordinarily high hot water and energy consumption.”
Since the consumption was very high, the meter operator made sure this possibility was clarified during the check. No errors have been detected so far. However, further clarification will be made with external experts and technicians in the field. When asked, Meier emphasizes: “Our priority right now is to clarify this situation.”
Crowdhouse has now contacted the family. We want to actively seek a workable solution for affected tenants,” Meier assures. Additionally, communication will be improved in such exceptional cases in the future.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
