It’s a thief. It’s a robber. It’s a landlord with no regard for tenants.

We used to own a house in Virginia before my husband and I sold it to come live in Switzerland. And lately, I’ve been missing it. The fireplace, the screened-in porch, but mainly the fact that it was ours and no one did anything to it unless we said.

So combine this longing for my own place again with coming home last night to discover dirt and pieces of jagged plastic (some more than a foot long) all over the rug in our entrance room, both of our bathrooms, and our hallway. I could only think one thing—my apartment had been robbed.

But no. Apparently, our landlord decided to replace all the skylights without telling us (except via an unintelligible message on my husband’s work phone around 9.30 am after we had both left for work that day, and which he didn’t discover until late) and just left us to come home and deal with the mess afterwards.

No prior notice. No regard for the fact we might have jobs. Just jagged pieces of plastic and dirt all over our apartment to welcome us home after a long day at work. (Talk about a perfect setting for an American lawsuit—I stepped on a piece of the old skylight this morning while getting out of the shower. Thank goodness I don’t have kids.)

So this weekend will be spent washing the white bathroom rugs that are now speckled, picking up jagged pieces of skylight that we overlooked, vacuuming again and again, probably all serenaded by a few unavoidable curses here and there.

I am shocked by the treatment we have received while renting here in Switzerland. For the price we pay there is really no regard for our rights at all. It doesn’t seem fair to come home to what we experienced last night, with only our neighbor (who works from home) to have the courtesy to come by and reassure us that we were not robbed.

A Swiss friend has helped me to compose a letter in pefect German to our landlord, explaining our shock and asking nicely to please give us advance notice for things like this—but I’m sure it won’t do any good. I’ve also documented the event in photos in case they try to deduct some of our deposit for floor damage where these jagged foot-long pieces have dented and scratched the floor. I don’t know what else to do. Anyone have a suggestion?