Terms of use

1. Operator

flatdibs is an independent project run from Zürich, Switzerland. You can reach flatdibs at the contact address at the bottom of this page.

2. What flatdibs does

flatdibs lets current tenants publish a flat before a move-out date is fixed. Interested people join a fixed-capacity, unordered waitlist. When a lister confirms a move and adds real viewing slots, all active members receive the invitation at the same time and available slots are booked first-come.

flatdibs is not a landlord, property manager, estate agent or party to a tenancy agreement. Applications and the final tenancy decision remain outside flatdibs with the relevant Verwaltung or landlord.

3. Accounts

• You must be at least 18 years old to hold an account.
• Provide accurate information and keep access credentials secure.
• Use one account for yourself and do not impersonate another person.
• You are responsible for activity through your account until you report unauthorised access.
• You may close your account through the product or contact us for help.

4. Listings and waitlists

Listings must be truthful and connected to a flat the lister is genuinely entitled to hand over or advertise. Searchers should leave when no longer interested and use Found a place when their search ends.

Joining is only an expression of interest. It creates no queue position, viewing guarantee, priority, tenancy right or promise that the flat will become available. flatdibs does not sell or rank waitlist positions.

5. Limits on use

The service applies limits so that places stay available to people who will use them. They may be adjusted as the product develops; the current values are shown in the product.

• A waitlist holds up to 20 people.
• You can hold 2 waitlist places at once, or 8 while you have a published listing that you confirm each week.
• Up to 5 saved searches per account.
• Chat messages are limited in length and rate to keep rooms readable.

6. Confirmations, invitations and strikes

Both sides of the marketplace are asked to confirm weekly that what they published is still true. This is what keeps listings and waitlists worth trusting, and not answering has automatic consequences.

A listing that is not confirmed is paused after 7 days and withdrawn after 14 days, counted from when the confirmation was due, after a grace period. A withdrawn listing can be published again. A search that is not confirmed releases the waitlist places held under it.

When a lister opens viewings for a flat, every active member of the waitlist is invited at the same time and has 24 hours to book one of the offered slots or decline. Declining, leaving a waitlist, or reporting that you found a place elsewhere never counts against you. Letting the 24 hours pass without responding records a strike, because an unanswered invitation holds a slot that someone else could have taken. Two strikes suspend your ability to hold waitlist places for 14 days.

These measures are applied automatically by the service. If you believe one was applied in error, write to us at the contact address at the bottom of this page.

7. Chat

Each listing has one shared chat for the lister and the people on its waitlist. It is not private messaging: anything you post is visible to the lister and to every other member of that waitlist, and can be read by anyone who joins the waitlist later while the chat is open.

Do not post other people's personal data, contact details or documents there, and do not use the chat to arrange anything this agreement prohibits. When a listing is finished the chat becomes read-only for a period and is then archived. We may remove messages and close a chat under section 10.

8. Acceptable use

• Do not post fake, misleading, discriminatory or unlawful content.
• Do not make access to a flat depend on buying furniture or another unwanted item.
• Do not scrape the service, evade capacity controls, create duplicate accounts, spam, harass or interfere with security.
• Do not upload content that violates privacy, intellectual-property or other rights.

9. Your content

You retain responsibility for content you submit. You grant flatdibs a non-exclusive licence to host, reproduce and display it only as needed to operate, secure and improve the service. You confirm that you have the necessary rights to submit it.

10. Reports and enforcement

We may investigate reports, remove content, pause or withdraw listings, limit features, or suspend or close accounts where reasonably necessary to protect users, enforce these terms or comply with law.

11. Third-party information

Maps, building information and rent comparisons may be incomplete or delayed. Rent-check results are estimates, not legal advice, a valuation or a promise that rent can be challenged successfully. Third-party links are governed by that party's terms and privacy practices.

12. Availability and liability

The project may change, suspend or discontinue features. We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability, listing accuracy, a viewing, a successful application or a particular housing outcome.

To the extent permitted by law, flatdibs is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, user conduct, third-party decisions or inaccurate user content. Liability that cannot legally be excluded, including for intent or gross negligence, remains unaffected.

13. Privacy, changes and law

The privacy policy explains how personal data is processed. Material changes to these terms will be communicated appropriately.

Swiss law applies, subject to mandatory consumer-protection rules. Courts in Zürich have jurisdiction where binding law does not require another venue.