🔶 Complaint over excessive rents via an app in Germany

More than 10,000 renting households, using the “rent-betrayal app” (Mietwucherapp) provided by the German Left Party, have complained to the relevant authorities about the heavy rent they pay for their place of residence. The rent paid by those who lodged the complaint is, on average, at least 250 euros higher than the legal rent cap in their area.

Since the “rent-betrayal app” was launched in November 2024, more than 10,000 households have used it to file complaints about rents exceeding the allowable limit. The app initially went live in four major German cities—Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Freiburg—and has gradually expanded its coverage to other cities in Germany.

According to the Left Party’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag, the app has been used a total of more than 300,000 times so far and is available in 36 cities across Germany. In 198,000 cases, reviews showed that rent amounts were far higher than permitted.

Housing, especially the cost of rent, was one of the issues the Left Party raised with voters in the latest round of the Berlin mayoral elections in September 2026. Elif Erelp, the 45-year-old Turkish-origin politician and Left Party candidate in Berlin, made the housing issue the centerpiece of her campaign. She even wears a gold necklace with the words “rent cap” to emphasize the main theme of her electoral platform. In recent years, due to rising demand for rental housing, a shortage of housing, and price increases, finding an apartment with affordable rent has become difficult for many residents—especially migrants and low-income families—in Berlin and other major German cities.

Despite the app’s reception in various German cities, according to reports, many people still end up paying heavy rent amounts out of fear of losing their homes and turn a blind eye to reporting abuse.