Monday, December 22
Forced evictions are on the rise in Berlin, with more than 7,500 eviction lawsuits filed with the district courts in 2024. Last year, there were 2,111 cases of forced evictions, up 135 from the previous year, and now almost every third lawsuit leads to a forced eviction.
Speaking to the German Press Agency, Eralp made it clear that Die Linke Berlin is against forced evictions in the case of rental debts. She said, “It cannot be that people are put on the street in the cold in the winter. I find it unbelievable that there is no such eviction moratorium.”
She calls for a total eviction stop in the winter months, stating, “We are close to the Christmas holidays, the temperatures will fall below zero degrees at night, and at the same time, the number of forced evictions in the city is increasing.” Her stance is that replacement housing should be provided to everyone.
As Eralp phrases it, people facing forced eviction are “often addicted to drugs, have psychological problems or can no longer get their everyday life in order.” In this case, they might “no longer open their mailboxes – out of overstrain and fear of even more bills.”
Therefore, Die Linke now wants eviction actions to be personally handed over to tenants, recalling the model suggested by former left-wing justice senator, Lena Kreck. This would mean that someone would have to come to the door to give a tenant their eviction notice, opening a dialogue and allowing more opportunity for support, for example, by offering debt counselling.
