Free Housing Intermediation Service

The private housing intermediation program is offered by the Studierendenwerk Freiburg free of charge.

Important notice:

We check the room offers in our service portal before they are made available to students. However, we cannot completely rule out dubious offers from landlords.

Therefore, please be careful if

• they ask for an advance payment
• no viewing appointment is possible
• no telephone number is given

If you think you have found a dubious offer, please contact our accommodation service: zimmer@swfr.de or Tel. 0761 2101 204. Only if you inform us can we investigate such cases.

You can find our new housing intermediation in our Service Portal. In order to use this and other services offered by the Studierendenwerk Freiburg you must complete a one-time registration.

Thereafter you can independently publicize, edit, and delete your housing openings.

Students must also register in order to view and select housing openings. During the registration process the student’s student number and university will be requested. Nevertheless we ask you to see a valid student ID before the signing of the rent contract. This is the only way to make sure that you are renting your room to a student.

Please note that duration of your housing opening lasts two weeks. It will close automatically if you do not extend the offer. Three days before the two-week deadline you will receive a message from us reminding you that the deadline is approaching and a link to extend the offer‘s deadline. You can also edit or change your offer anytime before the deadline in case you have rented out the room.

This way we can keep our database current and you will not receive any superfluous requests.

You may also call us or come in person if you have questions.

This link will take you to the ServicePortal!

You can find our new housing intermediation in our Service Portal. In order to use this and other services offered by the Studierendenwerk Freiburg you must complete a one-time registration. If you have already registered with us, then simply login with your username and password. In order to register you will need your admission papers, student nummer, or student ID.

You may request a maximum of five housing offers per day. We require a response if an intermediation takes place. You can request more offers only after you send us a response. This way we keep our database current and avoid offering you rooms that have already been rented out. You can find more information regarding the required repsonse by clicking on the following link.

Please bring your student ID with you when you go to view the room and present it to the landlord. Room intermediation will only take place for registered students.

You may also call us or come in person if you have questions.

This link will take you to the ServicePortal!

A great, fully equipped apartment at a bargain price? An offer that is too good to be true? Especially on real estate platforms in the internet people looking for an accommodation can become victims of scamming.

The scam is almost always the same.

The scammers pretend to be Englishmen/women or Americans who had supposedly inherited the apartment to let. Or they tell potential tenants that they had worked in Germany in the past and would like to rent their old apartment now because of a new job abroad.

And this is how it works: People interested in a housing offer are told that they have to make an advance payment of the first rent and the deposit by bank transfer to a domestic or foreign bank account or by cash transfer. The apartment keys would then be sent to the new tenant via a parcel service provider or an agency.

In case the apartment is not satisfying the money would be payed back. However, victims will never see their money again. Often the apartment doesn´t even exist or the owner is someone else, who doesn’t know anything about the fraud.

These are possible indications for a scam:

• Photos as from a catalogue
• Unusual large amount of modern furniture/facilities  
• Property doesn´t fit into the residential area
• Incidental costs are far too low
• Missing or faked contact details
• It is hardly possible to get into contact in German
• Request to transfer money before viewing the flat
• Request to create an account at Airbnb
• Request to send a copy of the ID
• Suspicious bank account number

The request for a payment before being able to view the flat is unusual and no common practice. Serious landlords/landladies and brokers don´t expect you to hand over sensitive data beforehand. Only after a face-to-face meeting/flat viewing they will ask you for personal data like proof of income, credit report (credit investigation company: Schufa) or guarantees.

What you can do if you fell victim to scammers

• You think you found a suspicious housing offer? The most important thing: Don´t transfer any money or state any personal data.
• If you have already transferred money to a supposed landlord/landlady, demand your bank to cancel the payment. Note: If you paid by direct debit you can ask for refund within 8 weeks.
• In legal terms it is fraud if you made a payment because of a fake offer. If you fell victim to a fake housing offer and you have already handed over personal data report the scam to the police.

You can do this online as well.

In addition, report the fraud to the real estate portal concerned to keep others searching for accommodation safe from these scammers. Many internet portals with housing offers provide a report button: Everybody who discovers suspicious offers can click on this button. The offers will be checked then. If the suspicion is confirmed the offer will be taken offline.

If you have any further questions or need some advice please contact the specialised police department via email: Freiburg.pp.praevention@polizei.bwl.de.