Preparing an application that reassures the managing agency

A managing agency handles a lot of applications. The one that arrives complete, legible and in one go goes ahead of the one that has to be chased three times. It is mechanical, and it is the only lever entirely within your control.

The documents usually asked for

• Proof of identity, or the residence permit for foreign nationals.
• Proof of income: recent payslips, or equivalent statements for a self-employed or retired person.
• The employment contract or a letter from the employer.
• A recent extract from the debt-collection register.
• Information about the occupants: how many people, adults and children.
• The move-in date wanted.
• Where applicable, the details and supporting documents of a guarantor.

This list reflects practice in French-speaking Switzerland. What is asked for varies with the managing agency, the apartment and the candidate's situation: some ask for less, others for more. The agency's own form is what counts.

The case of a guarantor

A guarantor can strengthen an application where the candidate's income is tight or irregular: a student, someone starting out, a recently self-employed person. They are not accepted as a matter of course, and their own solvency will be examined.

Offering a guarantor from the outset, with their supporting documents, is better than producing one after a first refusal.

Putting it together properly

• One send, one PDF file if you can, rather than eight separate attachments.
• Legible documents: a sharp, straight scan or photo, not a blurred screenshot.
• Self-explanatory file names if the send has to stay in several parts.
• A one-line cover page: who, for which apartment, for which move-in date.

What is not passed on

An application contains sensitive data. It should serve only to examine that application, and has no business travelling any further.

• Never circulate one candidate's application to other candidates, or to third parties who have nothing to do with it.
• Do not keep the applications of unsuccessful candidates once the transfer is settled.
• Send it to the managing agency, not to improvised intermediaries.
• A candidate is entitled to know who their application is passed to.

Keep proof that you sent it

This is the most neglected point, and often the most useful. The date on which you presented a candidate can become decisive if a disagreement sets in about when you met your obligations.

• Prefer writing (email, letter) to a phone call alone.
• Keep the message, the date and the list of documents sent.
• Note the answers you get, refusals and their grounds included.