Allocation of costs for additional services between tenants

Facts

In this case, company X. SA increased the rent of tenant C. due to renovation and energy efficiency work carried out in the building. The tenant contested the method of allocating costs among tenants, which the lessor had done on a pro rata basis according to the number of rooms per apartment. The cantonal authorities rejected this method in favor of an allocation on a pro rata basis of the rents before the increase, considering the latter to be more equitable. Company X. SA then appealed to the Federal Tribunal.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal upheld the appeal. It considered that, in the absence of a federal norm on the allocation of costs for additional services between tenants, the choice of the allocation method belongs first to the landlord. The judge can only intervene if the method chosen by the landlord is untenable, which was not the case here. The allocation on a pro rata basis of the number of rooms per apartment was indeed appropriate, insofar as the work mainly concerned the building envelope.

Consequently, the Rent Tribunal and the…