Left Party takes stock: Around 10,000 households report excessive rents

Left Party politician Caren Lay, a member of the Bundestag, said: „Illegale Mieten müssen gesenkt werden. Die Verfolgung von Mietpreisüberhöhungen durch die Kommunen ist möglich, wird aber immer noch von viel zu wenigen Verwaltungen engagiert betrieben." She also stressed that concrete reports would help local authorities in their work: „Dass konkrete Fälle gemeldet würden, helfe den Stadtverwaltungen."

According to the faction, the app is now available in 36 cities and has been used around 303,500 times overall. In around 198,000 cases, the rent entered was classified as excessive; in the 10,255 reports that actually reached the authorities, the average was 66 percent above the local level. According to the faction's calculations, the rents of these households would need to be cut by an average of 250 euros per month to once again fall within the legal framework.

Focus on Berlin

Berlin is by far the most active location: one in three tips submitted via the app came from the capital. There, the app was used to enter data 111,777 times, and in 4,658 cases the authorities were informed. According to the faction, Leipzig and Tübingen now also have their own investigative units for the prosecution of rent usury. Hanover, Leipzig and Hamburg also maintain their own reporting portals for illegal rents.

What legal consequences a report can have is shown by a case from Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg: there, in October 2025, a fine of 26,000 euros and a rent repayment of 22,000 euros were imposed, according to the Left Party. Frankfurt am Main is also acting consistently according to its own account: since 2020, the housing office has conducted more than 1,000 proceedings and, according to the faction, has obtained 330,330 euros in rent repayments.

Proceedings to Date

The prosecution of rent usury has long been possible under German law. Under the Economic Offences Act (Wirtschaftsstrafgesetz), it can constitute an administrative offence if a dwelling's rent is more than 20 percent above the local comparative rent and the landlord exploits a shortage of supply. If, according to case law, the excess is more than 50 percent, a criminal offence may under certain conditions even be deemed to have occurred.

The Left Party also suspects that the dark figure is significantly higher. Many of those affected had refrained from reporting out of fear of losing their homes, it said. This is also why the faction is calling for more consistent enforcement by the municipalities.

With the interim assessment, the faction wants to increase pressure on local authorities to pursue violations more consistently. Lay announced that the campaign would be continued and extended to additional cities.