Betreibungsauszug: the document every Swiss landlord asks for

If you are apartment-hunting in Switzerland, one document comes up in every single application: the Betreibungsauszug — in French extrait du registre des poursuites, in English the extract from the debt enforcement register. Agencies treat it as the standard solvency check, and an application without it usually goes to the bottom of the pile. Sending a stale one is nearly as costly — it is one of the most common dossier mistakes.

The good news: it costs CHF 17–18, takes minutes to order online in most cantons, and this page gives you the official ordering link for yours.

How to order it in your canton

The fee is federal — CHF 17, usually CHF 18 with postal or electronic delivery — so nobody can charge you more for the official document. What differs by canton is who issues it and how you order:

Canton	Cost	Delivery	How to order	Issuing office
Zurich (ZH)	CHF 17 CHF 17 plus postage (A-Mail)	By post No account	online form, by mail or at the counter Official order page	Stadtammann- und Betreibungsamt of your city district (City of Zurich); communal offices elsewhere in the canton
Geneva (GE)	CHF 17 CHF 17; paid online by card or TWINT, or at the counter (cash, debit card, TWINT)	Same/next day ge.ch account	online (e-démarches) or at the counter Official order page	Office cantonal des poursuites (cantonal office)
Basel-Stadt (BS)	CHF 17 CHF 17 in person; CHF 18 including delivery by mail or electronically	~48h No account	online form (processed within 48h on weekdays) or in person Official order page	Betreibungs- und Konkursamt Basel-Stadt (Aeschenvorstadt 56)
Zug (ZG)	CHF 17 CHF 17 at the counter; CHF 18 prepaid via the eZug app/portal	Digital eZug app	digital via eZug or at your commune's Betreibungsamt Official order page	Communal Betreibungsämter (e.g. Betreibungsamt Zug, Gubelstrasse 22, for the city of Zug)
Vaud (VD)	CHF 18 CHF 18 for the official online order (signed extract, verifiable online)	Same day portail.vd.ch	online via portail.vd.ch (sent same day if ordered before 2 p.m.) or in writing to the district office Official order page	Office des poursuites of your district (e.g. that for the district de Lausanne)
Bern (BE)	CHF 18 CHF 18 online, including delivery; CHF 17 at the counter	Digital No account	online via the canton's debt enforcement portal (be.ch/baka), by post or at the counter of your regional office Official order page	Regional debt enforcement office of the Canton of Bern (e.g. Bern-Mittelland for the city of Bern)
Lucerne (LU)	CHF 18 CHF 18 online, paid with the order	Same day No account	online form of the City of Lucerne (residents of the city) or at the counter Official order page	Betreibungsamt Stadt Luzern; communal offices elsewhere in the canton
St. Gallen (SG)	CHF 18 CHF 18 online, by credit card only	By post No account	online form of the City of St. Gallen or at the counter Official order page	Betreibungsamt St. Gallen (city); communal offices elsewhere in the canton

A few practical notes that apply everywhere:

• Have your ID ready. Online forms ask for a scan or photo of an ID card, passport or residence permit.
• Order it to yourself, not the agency. You receive the extract and attach it to each application — one extract serves every application while it stays fresh.
• Skip paid intermediary sites. Search results are full of services reselling the same extract with a markup. The official channels in the table above are the cheapest and the fastest.

Where you are applying also sets how fast you need the extract in hand. The city guides for Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne and Zug cover the local market pace and the quickest official channel in each canton.

Betreibungsauszug in English and French

Betreibungsauszug and Betreibungsregisterauszug refer to the same document. The English name used by ch.ch is extract from the debt enforcement register; in French it is extrait du registre des poursuites.

The language of an information page or order form does not tell you the language of the document you will receive. The City of Zurich’s ordering page explicitly says its extracts are issued only in German. Check with the issuing office if you need a different language; this Zurich rule does not establish the rules elsewhere.

Before paying for a translation, ask the recipient whether they need one, which language they accept and whether it must be certified. Keep the official extract with any translation. Translating the name of the document is different from obtaining an official translated extract.

The three-month freshness rule

Legally the extract never expires. Practically, agencies expect one no older than three months — many application forms state it outright. An older extract suggests either an outdated dossier or something to hide, and both impressions cost you the apartment.

The economics are simple: at CHF 17–18, re-ordering every three months during an active search is the cheapest insurance you can buy for your application. If your search drags into a new quarter, order a fresh one before the next viewing rather than after an agency asks.

What the Betreibungsauszug actually is

Every Swiss resident is covered by a local debt enforcement office (Betreibungsamt / office des poursuites). When a creditor starts formal collection proceedings against someone — an unpaid bill that escalated, a disputed invoice, a real debt — it is recorded in that office’s register.

The extract is a one-page official summary of your record. It shows whether any debt enforcement proceedings were opened against you in the last five years in that district, along with their status. For most people it is simply an empty page with a stamp — and that empty page is exactly what landlords want to see.

Three things follow from how the register works:

• It is kept per district, not nationally. The extract reports the issuing district’s records. If you moved across districts within the last five years, a thorough agency may ask for extracts from previous districts too.
• You need proof of identity for your own extract. Ordering someone else’s requires a legitimate interest or a power of attorney — which is why you attach it to the application instead of the landlord requesting it.
• Local residence is not a condition for requesting your own extract. Instruction No. 4 of the Federal Office of Justice says proof of current or former residence in the issuing district cannot be required. A short or absent residence history still limits what it can show.

Why agencies insist on it

A Swiss landlord’s biggest risk is a tenant who stops paying: eviction takes time, and the deposit covers at most three months. The debt register extract is the cheapest, most standardised signal that you pay your bills. It answers one question — has anyone had to chase this person for money in the last five years? — with an official stamp.

That is why it sits at the top of every agency checklist, next to salary confirmation. The two together cover the only things a landlord really screens for: ability to pay and willingness to pay. The rest of the dossier builds around them.

Empty extract vs. extract with entries

An empty extract is the goal, but a non-empty one is not automatically fatal:

• Old, settled proceedings — paid and closed years ago — rarely sink an otherwise strong file. Attach one calm sentence of context to your application letter rather than hoping nobody reads the document.
• Open or recent proceedings are a serious problem in the competitive cities. Be ready to explain, strengthen everything else in the dossier, and consider offering a guarantor.
• Disputed entries you believe are wrong can be addressed at the issuing office — sort that out before applying, not during.

Honesty beats concealment here: agencies read these documents every day, and an unexplained entry they discover themselves weighs heavier than one you addressed upfront.

Newcomers: what to do before your first extract exists

You can request an extract even with no local residence history, but it does not document your payment history abroad. It may carry a note about your residence history. A first extract is not automatically empty: its contents depend on the issuing office’s records.

If you do not yet have the document, ask the landlord which supporting documents they will consider: for example, employer confirmation and a previous-country credit report with a short explanation. Acceptance must be agreed for your application. The practical steps are in applying without a Betreibungsauszug.

Check ordering arrangements with the office, including delivery if you are still abroad. The City of Zurich posts written extracts only to Swiss addresses. Use the dossier check to see where you stand overall.