Rental deposit in Switzerland: account or guarantee?

In Switzerland a landlord may ask for at most three months' rent as a deposit for a home, and the money must sit in a bank account in your name, not in the landlord's pocket. Some landlords accept a deposit guarantee instead: you keep the cash but pay a yearly premium that, in this example, you do not get back, and if the landlord claims money, the guarantor pays and then collects it from you. For a CHF 2,000 rent, prices published on 16 October 2026 put the guarantee at about CHF 1,000 over three years and about CHF 1,700 over five, while the account costs about CHF 50-70 in fees and ties up CHF 6,000.

Every rule below links to the law or the official text behind it, and every price links to the page it came from. This page recommends no provider and has no affiliate links. It is general information, not legal or financial advice.

How much can a landlord ask as a rental deposit?

At most three months' rent. The rule is in the Code of Obligations (OR), Art. 257e para. 2: "Bei der Miete von Wohnräumen darf der Vermieter höchstens drei Monatszinse als Sicherheit verlangen" (for residential leases, the landlord may ask for at most three months' rent as security). The Federal Office for Housing (BWO) says the same in its English guide (September 2022): a maximum of three months rent (p. 10).

The federal text says "rent", not "net rent". Whether the Nebenkosten (service charges) count towards the three months depends on your lease, so check what yours says. Our Nebenkosten guide explains what the different rent figures on a lease include. In Vaud the cantonal rules are explicit: the deposit may not exceed "trois mois de loyer net" (three months' net rent; RULV Art. 2 para. 1).

Three months is a ceiling, not a requirement. Housing cooperatives work differently: according to the BWO guide, tenants there do not normally pay a deposit but a membership fee instead (p. 10).

Cantons may add their own rules: Art. 257e para. 4 reads "Die Kantone können ergänzende Bestimmungen erlassen" (the cantons may issue supplementary provisions). We checked Geneva and Vaud for this page. If you rent elsewhere, check your lease and your canton's rules.

Where does the deposit money go?

Into a bank account in your name. Under Art. 257e para. 1, if a tenant pays a deposit in cash or securities, the landlord must lodge it with a bank in a savings or custody account "das auf den Namen des Mieters lautet" (in the tenant's name). In German this is usually called a Mietkautionskonto or Mieterkautionssparkonto (rental deposit account). When you move out, the BWO guide says, the deposit is paid back together with interest (p. 10).

Geneva and Vaud add details:

The Vaud rules apply to every lease signed in the canton and are generally binding from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2032. On 22 April 2026 the Federal Council approved their deviation from mandatory OR rules for RULV Art. 2, the deposit article, among others (BBl 2026 1075).

What is a deposit guarantee, and can I use one instead?

A deposit guarantee (Mietkautionsversicherung, garantie de loyer) is a surety. A company gives your landlord a certificate promising to pay up to the amount on the certificate if the landlord makes a claim. You pay a yearly premium for this instead of putting cash in an account.

Despite the German word "Versicherung", it is not insurance against damage you cause. If the guarantor pays your landlord, it collects the money from you. One provider's FAQ puts it plainly: "Sie müssen dann den an Ihren Vermieter vorgeleisteten Betrag ... zurückzahlen" (you must then repay the amount advanced to your landlord). A bank guide says the same: the provider reclaims the payment from you or your private liability insurance.

Can you insist on one? Art. 257e only covers deposits "in Geld oder in Wertpapieren" (in cash or securities). It says nothing about guarantees, and we found no official page that says a landlord must accept one. Ask the landlord before you sign whether they accept a guarantee. Two cantonal texts do mention a surety:

• Vaud: the deposit can be provided through an "organisme de cautionnement" (surety organisation; RULV Art. 2 para. 3).
• Geneva: a simple surety ("cautionnement simple") is allowed for residential leases at the tenant's request (LGFL Art. 1 para. 2).

Account or guarantee: what does each cost over 3 and 5 years?

Here is one worked example. Assumptions:

• Net rent CHF 2,000 a month, deposit 3 × 2,000 = CHF 6,000, the legal maximum in this example. Whether your three months include Nebenkosten depends on your lease; in Vaud the rules say net rent.
• Two periods, 3 and 5 years, with no damage at move-out. A damage case follows in the next section.
• All prices are example rates as published on 16 October 2026, not a recommendation and not a ranking of providers.
• Interest compounding is ignored (the difference is under CHF 0.01). Withholding tax is ignored: there is none on interest from customer accounts up to CHF 200 a calendar year (Federal Tax Administration circular of 24 February 2010, Art. 5 para. 1 let. c of the Withholding Tax Act).

Example prices as published on 16 October 2026 by Zürcher Kantonalbank (example A), Glarner Kantonalbank (example B, factsheet valid from 1 July 2026) and Mobiliar (guarantee); check each provider's current price list.

What can change these figures?

Four things can move the guarantee figures:

• Stamp duty base. The federal tax office says stamp duty on insurance premiums is generally 5%. Its circular no. 33 says the 5% is charged on the premium actually paid (the "Barprämie"), that deposit guarantees are taxable (§3.9), and that policy, suspension and reminder fees and postage are not part of the base (§1.7.2). It does not name a yearly admin fee. The table charges the duty on the premium only. Another provider's published example charges it on premium plus admin fee; on that basis (CHF 320) the year costs CHF 336: CHF 1,008 over 3 years and CHF 1,680 over 5. That is why the table says "about".
• Loyalty discounts. A third provider publishes 10%, 20% and 30% off the premium after 2, 3 and 4 completed contract years (the 30% step "frühestens ab dem 1. Dezember 2025", from 1 December 2025 at the earliest), plus 10% for people aged 18 to 25. If those loyalty discounts applied to the list price above, the premiums would be CHF 300, 300, 270, 240 and 210. Over 3 years that is 870 + 60 admin + 43.50 stamp duty = CHF 973.50; over 5 years 1,320 + 100 + 66 = CHF 1,486.
• Other pricing models. The provider behind the CHF 336 line charges a different rate in the first year if you pay monthly, and offers to pay back part of the premiums at the end of the contract under conditions. We have not modelled it; read the conditions if it is offered to you.
• Release delay. The premium keeps running after you move out until the landlord releases the guarantee (see below). One extra year at list price adds about CHF 335.

Example terms as published on 16 October 2026 by SwissCaution and Firstcaution; check each provider's current price list.

On the account side, the fees decide the cost, not the interest. At 0.010%, five years of interest on CHF 6,000 come to CHF 3, less than either bank's opening fee.

What happens if the landlord claims for damage?

Say the landlord claims CHF 1,500 for damage after you move out, and the claim is settled.

Same example prices as above (16 October 2026); claim terms from one provider's FAQ and partner page. Read your own guarantee conditions (AVB).

The guarantee changes when you pay and how much cash you need at the start. It never pays the damage for you. Damage you cause may be covered by your own private liability insurance, which the bank guide mentions as a possible payer; check your own policy.

How and when do I get my deposit back?

The bank may release the money only in three cases, under Art. 257e para. 3:

1. you and the landlord both agree (in practice, both sign),
2. there is a final payment order (rechtskräftiger Zahlungsbefehl), or
3. there is a final court judgment.

The same paragraph has a one-year rule, and it is often misread as "the landlord must return the deposit within 12 months". The text says something narrower: "Hat der Vermieter innert einem Jahr nach Beendigung des Mietverhältnisses keinen Anspruch gegenüber dem Mieter rechtlich geltend gemacht, so kann dieser von der Bank die Rückerstattung der Sicherheit verlangen." In English: if the landlord has not legally asserted a claim against you within one year after the lease ends, you can ask the bank directly for the deposit. Within that year, the bank still needs one of the three releases above.

Geneva and Vaud word it differently. Both say the deposit is released automatically ("de plein droit débloquée") if there is no court action within one year after the tenant vacates the premises: LGFL Art. 5 in Geneva, RULV Art. 2 para. 8 in Vaud. Vaud also says withdrawals need both signatures or a court decision (para. 7).

At the hand-back, the BWO guide describes a joint check of the flat with a written report (p. 17); signing it means you agree to what is recorded. Read it before you sign, and note anything you disagree with. If the landlord makes no claim, ask them to sign the release so you do not have to wait the year.

If you and the landlord cannot agree, ask your canton's tenancy conciliation authority (Schlichtungsbehörde); it handles tenancy disputes.

What does a guarantee cost after I move out?

It can cost another full year, about CHF 335 in our example. In the terms we read, a guarantee ends only when the landlord or the agency sends the original certificate back to the provider; one insurer's page says you can cancel at any time in exactly that way. For example, one provider's FAQ says the contract stays active and the yearly premium is billed until the signed certificate arrives, and that there are no pro-rata invoices. The same FAQ says the landlord has 12 months under Swiss tenancy law to release the deposit; that is the provider's wording, not the text of Art. 257e, which sets no release deadline for the landlord (see the one-year rule above).

At the hand-back, ask the landlord to sign and return the certificate if there is no claim, and note your guarantee's billing date, so you know when the next premium falls due. Your own guarantee conditions (AVB) set the details, including any refund rules.

What this means for your budget

In this example the deposit is three times the monthly rent, so plan the cash line before you sign:

Same example prices as above (16 October 2026); check the current price list.

With an account, the CHF 6,000 stays your money, in your name; it can count as savings, but it is locked until the lease ends and the release rules above apply. With a guarantee, the budget carries about CHF 28 a month in fixed costs plus a reserve for any claim, because you still owe it.

In this example the account costs CHF 50-70 in fees over 3-5 years and ties up CHF 6,000; the guarantee frees the CHF 6,000 and costs about CHF 1,000-1,700 over 3-5 years at list price. Redo the sum with your own rent and the prices you are quoted.

Other bills arrive with a new flat too: the household media fee is one of them (our Serafe guide). To see where a line of CHF 28 a month fits in a full monthly budget, read Is CHF 100k a good salary in Switzerland?. In our Swiss Budget Planner you can rename categories, so you can add a line for one-off move-in costs and one for the monthly share of a yearly premium. Any spreadsheet with the same two lines does the job.

Sources and last checked

Rules and prices checked on 16 October 2026 (German and French pages with an English gloss). Prices are commercial and change; we recheck them on the day this page goes live.

• Code of Obligations (OR, SR 220), Art. 257e, status 1 October 2026.
• Federal Office for Housing (BWO), "Living in Switzerland: Everything you need to know about renting an apartment", PDF, English edition of September 2022, p. 10 and p. 17.
• BWO, framework tenancy contracts (Vaud RULV generally binding 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2032), and the RULV text of 11 November 2025, PDF.
• Federal Council decision of 22 April 2026, BBl 2026 1075 (deviation from mandatory OR rules for RULV Art. 2, 21 and 34).
• Canton of Vaud, Règles et usages locatifs (RULV), PDF, Art. 2, and tenancy law page.
• Canton of Geneva, Loi protégeant les garanties fournies par les locataires (LGFL, rsGE I 4 10), Art. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7.
• Federal Tax Administration (ESTV), stamp duty on insurance premiums, circular no. 33 "Stempelabgabe auf Versicherungsprämien", 4 February 2011, PDF, and circular "Freigrenze für Zinsen von Kundenguthaben", 24 February 2010, PDF (withholding-tax exemption up to CHF 200).
• Example prices and terms (commercial pages, not recommendations): ZKB rental deposit account, Glarner Kantonalbank factsheet, PDF, Mobiliar deposit guarantee, SwissCaution FAQ, Firstcaution private tenants, UBS guide, 3 July 2025.