Tens of thousands of francs in damages Real estate agent sells Thurgau hairdresser to crooks
A Thurgau woman loses tens of thousands of francs due to inadequate estate agent work. A real estate company brokered her apartment to unreliable tenants. The damage amounts to several tens of thousands of francs.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Karin Wüthrich has suffered damage and losses of around 50,000 francs due to unreliable tenants brokered by the real estate company Betterhomes.
- She accuses the company of a lack of due diligence when checking prospective tenants and a premature conclusion of the contract.
- Despite a civil lawsuit and failed arbitration proceedings, Betterhomes is refusing to pay compensation.
Karin Wüthrich commissioned the real estate agent Betterhomes to find new tenants for her 4.5-room apartment in Matzingen. A decision with consequences: The estate agent placed the Thurgau woman with a family who never paid rent and left the apartment damaged. It took seven months for the self-employed hairdresser to get her apartment back, as she told SRF's"Kassensturz".
Karin Wüthrich had bought the apartment with her inheritance. As she had no experience in renting, she turned to Betterhomes. However, the company apparently acted recklessly: according to SRF, a simple internet search would have revealed the father of the family to be dubious. Falsified documents and missing references had not been sufficiently checked.
However, the estate agent pushed for the contract to be signed quickly and the keys handed over, even though the rental deposit had not yet been paid.
Company does not want to pay compensation
Betterhomes denies the allegations, but experts criticize the procedure as unprofessional. The tenants only moved out after seven months, but left behind damage and unpaid bills amounting to around CHF 50,000.
Despite a civil lawsuit against Betterhomes and a failed arbitration procedure, Wüthrich is still stuck with the costs. The real estate company refuses to pay compensation, but has waived the agency fee of CHF 2,000. Wüthrich lacks the funds to take the case to court.
This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). All content created by AI is verified by the editorial team.