Scammers on Kleinanzeigen.de are selling desperate flat-hunters fake tenancy agreements and the opportunity to have their name on a Berlin postbox or buzzer for 100 euros per month, so that they can register an address at the citizens’ office (Bürgeramt).
A report by local public broadcaster rbb has found that scammers in Berlin are offering Briefkastenwohnungen “post box flats” to newcomers desperate to complete their registration (Anmeldung) in the city.
Registering at the Bürgeramt is obligatory for everyone in Germany and a registration certificate (Anmeldebescheinigung) is necessary to open a bank account or sign a work contract. In combination with the worst housing shortage in over 20 years, the obligation to register has provided fertile ground for housing scams.
For 100 euros per month, scammers are selling flat-hunters a fake sublet contract which can be shown at an Anmeldung appointment and the opportunity to have their name displayed on the buzzer and postbox, so it appears that they live at the address.
In one Kleinanzeigen advertisement, a scammer says that the exchange is possible for six months at a time or more and in the case of a year-long exchange, 1.200 euros is to be paid when the “contract” is signed.
Since 2015, according to the Bundesmeldegesetz, renters in Germany require a document from their landlord proving their tenancy or sublet and that they can register at the Bürgeramt. Meanwhile, Scheinanmeldungen - registrations at addresses where you are not permitted to live or do not spend the majority of your time - are forbidden.
Speaking to rbb, Berlin Tenants’ Association (Berliner Mieterverein) executive Ulrike Hamann-Onnertz, said that news of the new scam was “very worrying”.
As the Berlin housing crisis rumbles on, the city’s CDU / SPD coalition is floating various ideas to stabilise the rental market. One of the most recent includes paying ex-Berliners to deregister. Since the initial registration process is arduous, many leave the city but remain registered with the idea that it will be easier to return if they decide to.
According to figures from the 2022 census, there are around 129.000 people still registered in Berlin who no longer live in the city. To get a grasp on the real population and prevent Scheinanmeldungen, SPD politician Sven Heinemann recently suggested paying 100 euros to everyone who chooses to deregister.
In the background, Berlin’s Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen campaign recently marked 1.000 days since 59,1 percent of participating Berliners voted to expropriate 240.000 houses and apartments owned by large private property companies, but the CDU / SPD coalition is yet to lay out any policy which would see the referendum result implemented.
In September 2023, Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen activists who campaigned to have the original referendum held in September 2021 announced that - with the help of experts and lawyers - they would draw up a draft law designed to implement the expropriation policy. If all goes to plan, this draft will then be put to a vote in a second referendum which will coincide with the state elections for Berlin in 2026.
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