Nationwide raid against junk properties in North Rhine-Westphalia

According to the state government, the nationwide inspection of junk properties on Thursday revealed numerous indications of social benefit abuse. The North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Construction said the authorities had also closed several apartments in which people lived in unacceptable conditions.

“The control operation was another targeted hit against the business model with junk properties,” said Construction Minister Ina Scharrenbach (CDU).

Around 100 emergency services focused on more than 140 apartments in Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Krefeld and Velbert. For example, it was checked whether people in precarious living situations were accommodated at excessive rents or whether residents were only supposedly registered in houses in order to receive social benefits.

38 apartments evacuated immediately

35 people were immediately deregistered because of clear information. In 57 cases, it is being examined whether social benefits were abused with the help of fictitious employment relationships.

The authorities immediately banned the further use of 38 apartments and accommodated the affected residents elsewhere, the ministry said. The reasons for this include massive deficiencies in fire protection, electrical systems or heavy rat infestations.

Authorities are learning more and more about the fraud models

Above all, the campaign found “indications of higher-level structures” about how criminals use junk properties to obtain social benefits. «Our goal is not just to find problem properties. We want to recognize the structures behind it and remove the ground from business models that profit from social need,” emphasized Scharrenbach.

The NRW state government recently introduced a law that is intended to give municipalities significantly more options to intervene against exploitative rental practices. Among other things, the plans include a “Fair Accommodation” seal of quality and, as a last resort, in particularly problematic cases, the expropriation of real estate.