Rent usury law

The Die Linke parliamentary group's bill for a "rent usury law" was rejected in the Bundestag. The rejection was also recommended in a corresponding recommendation by the Committee for Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection. The left-wing faction justifies the bill with the persistently high demand for housing, especially in metropolitan areas, which in many places leads to rents well above the local comparative rent and, due to a lack of alternatives, pushes tenants into contracts with unreasonably high rental prices. Since the current civil law means are not sufficient, Section 5 of the Economic Crimes Act, among other things, must be tightened. The difficult-to-prove element of “exploiting” a low supply should be eliminated and the inappropriateness of the rent should instead be based on an objective criterion, the low supply. At the same time, the fine limit should increase from the current maximum of 50,000 euros to 100,000 euros. The bill was rejected with 440 votes against. 131 MPs voted in favor, there were no abstentions.