The Left Party parliamentary group in the Bundestag has evaluated data from its “rent-gouging app,” launched a year and a half ago. According to the analysis, the app was used around 303,500 times across 36 cities. In approximately 198,000 cases, tenants reported that their rent exceeded the local average. However, only 10,255 households took the step of filing an official complaint with the authorities.
The Left Party attributes this reluctance to tenants’ fear of losing their homes, though the party provides no evidence for this claim. In the reported cases, rents would need to be reduced by an average of 250 euros per month, according to official calculations. The app was particularly active in Berlin, where tenants alerted authorities 4,658 times.
According to the Left Party, in October 2025, a fine of 26,000 euros and a rent repayment of 22,000 euros were enforced in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. Frankfurt am Main has taken the strictest approach: its housing office has conducted over a thousand proceedings since 2020, securing 330,330 euros in repayments. MP Caren Lay stated: “Illegal rents must be reduced. Municipalities can pursue rent overcharging, but still too few administrations do so with commitment.”
Source: www.spiegel.de
