Rent cap: Hubig wants to punish violations with fines

afp | Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) wants stricter penalties for violations of the rent cap. Hubig told the newspapers of the Funke media group on Saturday that she wanted to close “protection gaps in tenancy law”. "My goal is that we make the rent control really strict. If the landlord is currently violating the rent control, he only has to refund the excess money to the tenant. That's not enough."

Hubig explained that a group of experts is currently dealing with “fines for violations of the rent cap” and a “reform of the regulation of rent usury”.

The consumer protection minister assured that the rent cap was working. “But there are still too many ways to override the rent control,” said Hubig. "This particularly affects short-term rentals and furnished apartments. My draft law on this is currently being discussed in the Bundestag."

At the same time, the Federal Minister of Justice spoke out against expropriation of housing companies, as the Left Party in Berlin is calling for. “We in the federal government agree that the path of socialization would not be effective,” Hubig told the Funke media. "An expropriation of large companies costs a lot and achieves little. Instead, we must ensure that investments are made in new housing."