beginning of December. Half a meter of snow fell on the small town of Princeton in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Temperature: cold minus 20 degrees. It is 30 kilometers from the nearest shop. Here, far from civilization, Swiss Overseas Thomas Gürster (56) has had a Swiss chalet style house for 20 years.
“But when you get older, life gets harder there in the winter,” Gürster tells Blick. “That’s why I planned to spend the winter months in Switzerland in the future.”
Gürster wants to keep his house
Because Switzerland still has a house in Münchwilen AG. It was rented until recently, but now Swiss people abroad want to use it for themselves in the winter.
Gürster sees Canada as the center of his life as long as he is not retired yet. The former master of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) buys houses there, empties them out, renovates them and then sells or rents them again.
Mortgage terminated before expiry of contract
His plans to end his life in Switzerland, where the winter months are mild, suddenly come to the brink of the abyss. Reason: Raiffeisen bank, from which Gürster took the mortgage for his house in Switzerland, canceled the mortgage agreement. The business relationship will be terminated on 31 December 2022.
Gürster was shot in the head. “I’ve been in Raiffeisen for over 15 years and have never missed a payment,” he says. His fixed-rate mortgage actually lasts until June 30, 2023. According to Gürster, the market value of the house in Münchwilen is one million francs. The mortgage on it is only 340,000 francs.
Raiffeisen kicks Swiss abroad
What happened? The bank justifies the step in the termination letter owned by Blick as follows: “Managing business relationships with customers residing outside of Switzerland is becoming more and more complex due to increasing legal requirements. As a result of the measures that have emerged, it is becoming more and more difficult for us, as a locally active Raiffeisen bank, to deal with customers abroad.»
In short: Raiffeisen no longer wants to rule all countries. Gürster worries that he will stay at home. Because requests from other Swiss banks were denied. So far, he has not found any other financial institution willing to give him a mortgage. The 56-year-old desperately asked, “Am I going to lose my home in Switzerland now?” he asks.
Many immigrants want to return to Switzerland
He certainly isn’t the only Swiss who has been threatened to cancel an existing mortgage abroad. According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), about ten percent of the Swiss population lives abroad. In 2021 there were 788,000 Swiss abroad. They would form the fourth largest canton in Switzerland in terms of population.
“Most of these Swiss Abroad still have an apartment or house in Switzerland,” says Ariane Rustichelli, 48, Director of Swiss Community, a subsidiary of Swiss Abroad. Because figures from the FSO also show that more and more Swiss go abroad only for a limited time and then return to their home country. “It makes sense to protect your own home,” Rustichelli says.
Several countries affected
When asked by Blick, Raiffeisen remains silent about how many customers are affected in which countries. Gürster learns from his client advisor that he only has to complete more than 90 bank relationships in the Frick-Mettauertal region. These will likely be not only mortgage clients, but also other types of banking relationships with expats.
Gürster went to Switzerland at the end of November. Now he urgently needs to find a solution to his mortgage. Asked Raiffeisen several times, his mortgage will not be canceled at the end of the year, but will run until the end of the contract, which was agreed on June 30, 2023.
The extended gallows period does not solve Gürster’s problem. Swiss Abroad is searching at full speed for a provider that will give him a mortgage on his home.