Smoking, Keeping pets: what can a tenant be prohibited from doing?

Some landlords do not want a smoking tenant and decide to insert a no-smoking clause to the rental agreement. Such a clause has no legal effect. However, you must ensure that the smoke will not disrupt your neighbors. Disputes or even a certain tug-of-war is likely to arise in this context in Switzerland as elsewhere. As far as pets are concerned, if the internal rules of the building do not prohibit keeping them, you should better ask the owner for his permission, which he may refuse.

Private vs public places

In Switzerland, you are free to smoke in your room or on your balcony, even if your rental contract includes a non-smoking clause. Such a clause does not entail any obligation on your part, even if you have signed it. The accommodation for which you pay rent is a private place. But, here as elsewhere, your freedom stops where the freedom of others begins, and you need to remember that different rules apply for public places. In this case, you must comply with the regulations that generally prohibit smoking.

Respect for Neighbors

You should be careful not to inconvenience your neighbors, especially if you smoke on your balcony and smoke disturbs them. You should also ensure that smoke (or the smell of tobacco) does not escape from your apartment when you open the door. Cigarettes (like excessive noise) are considered a nuisance and respect for the neighbors’ rights prevails. Article 257f (2) of the Code of Obligations provides for certain rights and duties of tenants in this field. You should also know that if you have too many complaints from your neighborhood, your landlord may decide not to renew your rental contract that has come to an end, or even terminate the agreement before that, if he can prove that the smoke or smell of tobacco is disturbing your neighbors.

Return the apartment in the condition as you received it

Any damage that could be caused by smoking (burns, yellowing of the walls, persistent odors) are to be repaired by the tenant. The obligation to return the apartment in the state in which you found it can be enforced by law and you will have to erase any trace or smell of nicotine before you leave the apartment so that you do not have a problem when you leave. Even if you have to repaint the walls and ceiling, otherwise your landlord is entitled to retain all or part of the security deposit to restore the property to its original state.

Note, however, that while the law does not prohibit you from smoking in your private space, in the future the trend is towards completely non-smoking residences, as it is already the case in the United States. In this case, the question will not even arise: you will not be allowed to smoke.

Keeping pets, what are the limits?

Since we are talking about what is allowed and what is not, let’s examine more closely whether you have the right to keep a cat, a dog, or a snake in your rented apartment!

If you want to keep a pet in your dwelling as a tenant you need to get permission from the landlord but please bear in mind that he is entitled to refuse you (according to courts’ decisions). However, if the internal rules of the building prohibit tenants from keeping pets, this prohibition may be incorporated into the rental agreement and becomes binding. This means that if you violate this prohibition, your landlord has the right to terminate the contract.

If the rental agreement does not mention any prohibition in that regard, you are generally entitled to keep a pet.  This does not include, of course, turning your home into a kennel or day-care center for abandoned cats. Things get more complicated with animals that are considered dangerous or disturbing. If you are a fan of spiders or snakes, you will need to ask your landlord for his permission to keep them in your apartment. If your dog barks while you’re away and the neighbors complain, your landlord has the right to forbid you from keeping then. However, he or she will have to avert you in writing and try to find a solution before taking actual legal steps.

With regard to small animals like hamsters, guinea pigs, dwarf rabbits or fishes, which are unlikely to make noise or scare neighbors, there is no prohibition.