4 ms·
> why not increase the price to the point where 90% of contenders lose interest Because that's illegal, even without the rent cap in Berlin.
by lqet 6y ago
> why not increase the price to the point where 90% of contenders lose interest
Because that's illegal, even without the rent cap in Berlin.
- AlchemistCamp 6y agoA market response to supply and demand is illegal? What law would do that if not a rent cap?
- chillyistkult 6y ago§ 291 StGB Wucher
- djbebs 6y agoRent control prevents from increasing by more than a set amount every year. Theoretically you can wait for decades raising the rent every year
- cmoser 6y agoThere are multiple kinds of rent caps. One is the maximum annual raise for existing tenants. Another one is vague and based on the "Mietspiegel", which lists appropriate rents according to quality and location. If the rent exceeds this by too much, you can sue for "Mietwucher" (rent usury).
- lqet 6y ago§556d, 1 of the German civil code. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__556d.html https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__556d.html It's illegal here to demand a rent more than 10% higher than the "ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete", which is approximately the local rent averaged over the last 6 years (exactly defined in §558) More generally, you cannot simply ask for astronomical prices for anything in Germany just because you know that people are in a position where they have to pay them, that's "Wucher" (racketeering) and against public decency, which is generally illegal according to §138. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__138.html https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__138.html
- AlchemistCamp 6y agoInteresting. That sounds a lot like rent control if the wiggle room is only 10% over a 6 year moving average.
- acjacobson 6y agoIt is rent control - which basically exists throughout Germany. Even in SF rent controlled apartments can increase some % per year, it is just controlled how much. In Germany this is often done by looking at the region's average price for similar properties and then fixing some limited increase against that. This is distinct from the rent cap that was overturned, which stated no rise in rent at all for five years.