MietSofort: What to know if you receive a €79 payment demand

Key points at a glance

• MietSofort charges €79 for access to the platform.
• In the ZEV’s view, the registration process is misleading and breaches several consumer protection requirements.
• If the order button does not comply with the law, no valid contract is formed.
• The ZEV has issued the company with a formal warning.

€79 for access to the platform

Subscription Cancel LTD, a company based in Varna, Bulgaria, operates mietsofort.de, a platform offering a search service for rental listings for rooms, flats and houses. Anyone wishing to contact a landlord must register on the platform. At first glance, registration appears to be free of charge. After signing up, however, the company demands €79 and threatens to refer unpaid claims to debt collection.

The ZEV received numerous consumer complaints within a short period. Consumers reported that they had not realised the service was subject to a charge. The ZEV’s legal enforcement team subsequently reviewed the ordering process and found the allegations to be substantiated.

The ordering process does not meet legal requirements

The design of the order button does not comply with the applicable legal requirements. Under Section 312j(3) of the German Civil Code (BGB), the button must be labelled only with the words “zahlungspflichtig bestellen” (“Order with obligation to pay”) or an equally clear and unambiguous phrase. This is intended to prevent additional information from pushing the key message — that the order is subject to a charge — into the background. Otherwise, consumers may overlook that message. This is a concern on the page in question, where the words “Zugang freischalten” (“Activate access”) are also prominently displayed.

Important: If the order button does not comply with the law, no valid contract is formed. On that basis, there would be no obligation to pay the €79 fee.

The price of €79 was also not sufficiently prominent. Instead, it was stated only in the body text below the order button.

Further irregularities

In addition to the issues identified in the registration process, the ZEV found further breaches of information requirements and unlawful terms and conditions.

ZEV calls on MietSofort to cease and desist

The ZEV’s legal enforcement team has called on Subscription Cancel LTD to cease the practices in question and to issue a cease-and-desist declaration subject to a contractual penalty.

If the company does not provide an adequate declaration, the ZEV will take further legal action.

We will provide updates on important developments in the proceedings against MietSofort on this page.

What can those affected do?

Anyone who has received a payment demand from MietSofort should dispute the claim. A sample letter provided by the Hamburg Consumer Advice Centre may be helpful.

If a debt collection agency becomes involved, the claim should also be disputed directly with that agency. This is because an uncontested claim may be reported to SCHUFA, a German credit reference agency. Once the claim has been disputed, further discussions with the company or debt collection agency are generally unlikely to be productive.

If you receive a court payment order (gerichtlicher Mahnbescheid), you must also take action and lodge an objection. Otherwise, even an unjustified claim may become enforceable.

Should the company continue to pursue payment, it would have to take the matter to court. As its prospects of success are likely to be poor, this is unlikely to happen.

Anyone who continues to feel harassed by debt collection letters despite having disputed the claim can report the matter to Germany’s Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz), which supervises debt collection services.

Consumer Information

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