Overview
- Attorney Olaf Schmechel said in Die Zeit the draft Berlin rent register is unconstitutional.
- He argued automated checks would flag excessive rents to prosecutors and force landlords to provide self-incriminating data.
- He warned a fuller dataset could raise the official local benchmark rent, which could lead to higher rents.
- Berlin's building senator Christian Gaebler rejected the claim as nonsense and said the city can lawfully require such disclosures.
- Real-estate groups denounced the plan as heavy bureaucracy, while landlord Vonovia backed more transparency and said compliant owners have nothing to fear.