Due to coronavirus: extension of deadline for rent payments
Tenants of residential and commercial properties affected by the coronavirus pandemic will have more time to pay their rent in future. The Federal Council has significantly extended the deadlines for payment arrears.
Under the current circumstances, the Federal Council has announced that the risk of rent arrears for residential and commercial premises is greatly increased and, as a result, the risk of a threat and notice of termination. In order to reduce this pressure, the period under Article 257d paragraph 1 CO for residential and commercial rents is being extended from 30 to 90 days. According to the Federal Council, this applies to tenants who are in arrears with rent payments due to measures ordered by the authorities to combat the coronavirus. The deadline extension applies to rents and ancillary costs that are due between March 13 and May 31, 2020.
At the same time, the Federal Council is extending the deadline for tenants to pay rent due in accordance with Article 282 paragraph 1 CO from 60 to 120 days under the same conditions. As a further immediate measure, the current notice period for furnished rooms and parking spaces pursuant to Article 266e CO will be extended from two weeks to 30 days.
Due to the difficult situation of many commercial tenants in particular, Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin set up a task force on March 24, which is headed by the Director of the Federal Office for Housing BWO. The task force is to include the administration, tenant and landlord organizations, representatives of the real estate industry as well as cities and cantons; it is to propose further measures to the Federal Council if necessary. (ah)
