The property professionals’ solution

What is a nomadic tenant?

Nomadic tenants are people who move into a dwelling without any real intention of paying the rent. The term *nomadic* refers to their behaviour: they move from one dwelling to another as evictions occur, repeating the same pattern everywhere they go. Once settled, they quickly stop making any payments, no longer respond to requests, and generally leave the premises only when an eviction procedure is completed, before starting again elsewhere.

For property management companies and real estate agencies, this phenomenon represents a risk: these profiles create unpaid rents, block dwellings for several months, and often cause material damage. The ability to identify them early therefore becomes a key issue for securing the rental portfolio and protecting property owners.

How does it work?

In Switzerland, it is enough for certain tenants to change their municipality of residence and therefore their debt collection district to make the entries in their former debt register disappear. When they request an extract in their new municipality, it appears almost blank, since past debt proceedings are not automatically transferred. This administrative loophole allows them to present an apparently impeccable application to property managers and owners, despite sometimes considerable histories of unpaid rents.

This issue is now well known, to the point that several political interventions have recently been submitted to Parliament to strengthen the traceability of debt proceedings and limit these abuses.

To this is added a second phenomenon: some heavily indebted individuals falsify or “embellish” their debt register extract in order to obtain a dwelling. For property management companies and institutional landlords, the consequences are often significant: unpaid rents, lengthy and costly procedures, prolonged occupation without any rent payment, and dwellings left in a severely degraded condition.

A major risk for landlords

Tenants known as rent nomads, sometimes considered true rental fraudsters, represent a significant concern for property owners. The problem generally does not stop at unpaid rents: these tenants often leave behind heavily damaged dwellings, complex administrative situations, and high repair costs.

For property management companies and rental professionals, the challenge is twofold:

• to protect landlords against sometimes considerable financial losses;
  
• to react quickly as soon as the first signs of unpaid rent appear in order to limit the extent of the damage.

Prevention remains the most effective measure. Rigorous file selection, thorough verification of the information provided, and early detection of warning signs significantly reduce the risk of such tenants settling into a property. For agencies, this is an essential way to preserve the trust relationship with owners and to secure their rental portfolio in the long term.

Which types of properties are most targeted by nomadic tenants?

Some categories of dwellings attract nomadic tenants more than others, as they exploit market weaknesses and situations of reduced vigilance.

1. Hard-to-rent properties

Dwellings located in regions with high vacancy rates or offering limited appeal constitute preferred targets. When visits are rare, some owners, eager to rent out, become less demanding in selecting applications. This drop in vigilance opens the door to fraudulent profiles.

2. High-end properties

The amount of rent is of little importance to nomadic tenants, since they have no intention of paying it. High-end dwellings are therefore just as vulnerable, if not more so, as the financial loss in the event of unpaid rent and damages is much higher. For agencies, this requires strengthened checks on income, background, and solvency.

3. Properties rented directly by private landlords

Private landlords often lack the tools and experience needed to properly verify a rental application. Nomadic tenants are aware of this and take advantage of this weakness: incomplete documentation, falsified debt extracts, references that cannot be verified. Real estate agents, on the contrary, carry out systematic and structured checks, which strongly discourages fraudsters.

How to help landlords identify nomadic tenants?

Nomadic tenants often master a strategy that allows them to bypass standard checks and rent a property without difficulty. They generally display no particular external signs that could identify them. It is precisely this absence of visible indicators that makes their detection complex and increases the need for property managers and rental professionals to implement rigorous procedures.

To support owners effectively and secure a property before renting it out, the following measures have proven useful:

• Have the tenant complete a full application form to obtain all necessary information from the outset.
  
• Verify professional references, including the employer and income stability.
  
• Require a recent extract from the debt register, a document for assessing the tenant’s solvency.
  
• Contact previous landlords to confirm the absence of rental debts and the good behaviour of the tenant.
  
• Check the tenant’s identity by requesting valid official identification documents.
• Include a rental guarantee (deposit or rent guarantee insurance) in the lease agreement to cover risks of unpaid rent.
  

A Swiss context that complicates screening

Switzerland does not currently have an official database allowing the identification of nomadic tenants. This lack of centralisation reinforces the importance for property management companies to develop their own screening practices and remain particularly attentive to warning signs.

In this context, calling on a broker or a property management company specialised in rentals constitutes an advantage for property owners: better sorting of applications, a structured verification process, the ability to identify high-risk profiles, and a significant reduction of future disputes.

Advice to give landlords to protect themselves from nomadic tenants

• Submit each tenant to a thorough examination. A rigorous verification of income, professional status, references, and the debt register is essential.
  
• Provide a rental guarantee in a lease agreement favourable to the landlord. A security deposit or rent guarantee insurance strengthens the landlord’s financial protection and limits the impact of unpaid rents.
  
• Call on an experienced real estate agent specialised in rentals. Property management companies and real estate agents have proven control procedures and valuable expertise to identify warning signs and avoid high-risk applications. Their intervention considerably reduces the likelihood of accepting a nomadic tenant.

What to do when nomadic tenants have already moved in?

The first warning sign generally appears as soon as the first rent remains unpaid. At this stage, it is essential for the property manager or the landlord to act immediately by sending a formal notice, accompanied by a clear warning regarding a possible termination of the lease.


When the tenant never had the intention of paying (which characterises nomadic tenants), the situation may fall under fraud within the meaning of Art. 146 of the Swiss Criminal Code (CC). These profiles are quickly recognisable: total absence of communication after moving in, no rent received, no reaction to any letters sent. However, it is essential to distinguish these fraudulent behaviours from situations where a tenant becomes insolvent afterwards, whether intentionally or not.

If nomadic tenants refuse to leave the premises despite reminders and termination, the property manager may request their judicial eviction. When the facts are clear and all evidence required under Art. 257 para. 1 CPC is gathered, a petition may be filed with the single judge.

Relevant evidence includes: written warnings, formal reminders, copies of registered letters and even registered letters returned unopened, which show that the tenant acts deliberately to avoid any communication.

It is not recommended for a landlord to intervene personally by changing the lock, cutting the heating, or adopting any other coercive measure. Even in the presence of unpaid rents, the landlord’s legal obligations remain unchanged, and any unilateral action may backfire. The only valid approach therefore remains judicial proceedings, even if they may be long and costly.

Evicting nomadic tenants: step-by-step guide

The procedure begins with sending a warning to the tenant, who must be formally required to pay the overdue rents. If no regularisation occurs, the landlord can then pronounce the termination of the lease using the official form provided for this purpose, available from the local conciliation authority. Once this termination is validated by the court, it becomes possible to file an eviction request to obtain the vacating of the property. At the same time, the landlord may file a debt collection request to assert the overdue rents in court, as well as any other claim related to the tenant’s behaviour.

Consequences

Reduction of supply and increase of costs

Nomadic tenants temporarily reduce the housing supply, because the affected properties often require renovations and sometimes legal procedures, leading to periods of forced vacancy. The costs related to unpaid rents, damage, legal fees, and repairs gradually integrate into the economic models of property managers and institutional landlords, increase operating expenses, and decrease overall profitability in the sector.

Market tightening and decreased accessibility

The perception of increased risk leads professionals to reinforce requirements: higher security deposits, stricter verification, and more selective acceptance criteria. This tightening reduces accessibility to housing, particularly for vulnerable households or atypical profiles (students, self-employed workers, newcomers), and contributes to a rationing of the market.

Weakened trust and increased rigidity of the sector

The phenomenon weakens trust between landlords and tenants and creates lasting mistrust, with heavier files and more frequent checks. At the market level, this results in an environment that is more rigid, more conservative, and sometimes less favourable to innovation.

Conclusion

Therefore, property management companies play an essential role. A well-trained and attentive management company can:

• avoid eviction costs for property owners,
  
• reduce vacancy periods,
• prevent costly damage,
  
• protect the agency’s reputation,
  
• strengthen customer loyalty.

Nomadic tenants are not only a problem for landlords: they represent a strategic issue for real estate professionals, who must be able to justify their added value by securing every step of the rental process.

But good news: only a few management companies report having faced nomadic tenants.

Source

immoverkauf24.ch - Article
mycrifdata.ch - Article