I wanted to do my part to stop the rent madness
Because she is self-employed, she would never have got the flat in Berlin's hip Kreuzberg district without a guarantee from her father – so Helena really ought to count herself lucky as far as her landlord is concerned. Nevertheless, she stood up for her rights and used the rent control law (Mietpreisbremse) to cut her rent by over 20 per cent. So why are so many other tenants still hesitating? Out of fear, laziness or ignorance, she thinks.
You live in Berlin's pretty Bergmannkiez – a stronghold of gentrification. How did you get hold of the flat?
eBay Kleinanzeigen. At first I searched like everyone else on WG-Gesucht, ImmoScout and the like. But there were 30 or 40 people at every viewing. At viewings like that you need to know the estate agent, otherwise it's a complete waste of time. Whenever I saw those crowds at mass viewings, I just turned around and left. Then a friend told me about eBay Kleinanzeigen.
So in the end it was quite easy for you to get the flat?!
No, not at all. When I moved from Hamburg to Berlin, I spent the first few months in sublets in different parts of Berlin and staying with friends. Then came sexy Karlshorst for six months – cheap to live in, but just too far from my workplace in Kreuzberg. After a long search, I was lucky enough to find my current flat on eBay Kleinanzeigen – and I only got it because my father was added to the tenancy agreement. Like so many young newcomers to the city.
How did you get the idea that you might be able to lower your rent?
It started with me getting annoyed with the property management company. They're not very reliable and hardly ever respond to my emails or calls. For example, I've had problems with the heating for six months – a gas boiler that keeps cutting out. In winter, mind you. I fought for months to get a tradesman to come out and repair it. In the end a friend of mine stepped in and pumped hot water through the system until it worked again. But I started thinking about what could be done about all this…
But at first that had nothing to do with lowering your rent...
Right, but I'd picked up a lot from the media and started looking into it more closely. Then one day there was a flyer from you in my letterbox. And as I was standing there in the hallway with my neighbour next to me, we got talking about it. He had already used your website to calculate how much he was overpaying and had already lowered his rent with you.
And then you instructed us straight away?
Well, I hesitated at first because I didn't want any trouble with the property management. But from my point of view, the relationship with them was already bad anyway. So I looked into what could happen, read up on your website, sent you an email and arranged a phone call to discuss the situation. After that, I went ahead and instructed you.
Didn't you think about doing it through a tenants' association or an independent lawyer instead?
Not really. It sounded like there was nothing to lose, like there was no commitment, so I didn't even think about going a different route.
How long did the process take until your rent reduction went through?
The property management didn't respond to the first two or three letters at all. It was only when the letter from your lawyer arrived that we got the first responses.
And how much did you get out of it?
My rent was 13.70 euros per square metre (net rent, excluding service charges), and CONNY calculated that it should only be around 8.30 euros. We then met in the middle at 10.80 euros, because I didn't want to get into a long court case. In the end I was able to cut my rent by a good 20% and now save 1,400 euros a year.
Rising rents can only be curbed if more tenants exercise their rights. Why do you think so few people do it?
Out of fear of the landlord and their own uncertainty. But many people are simply too lazy. They don't understand that a movement can only emerge if lots of people get behind it and actually challenge their rent. Many are also scared of being sued out of their flat and simply have no appetite for court proceedings. Who does? Then there's also a large majority who think it doesn't affect them anyway. And all of that is of course wrong – or rather, in the end only landlords benefit from that kind of attitude.
Did you expect more or less money from the rent reduction?
I went into it without any expectations. My goal was more that word would spread and that people would see the rent control law can really be used. The 117 euros a month are great, of course, but even if it had only been 50 euros I would have done it, because I want to do my part to make sure the rent madness is stopped.