Overview

• Teams from municipal offices, customs, registries and fire services carried out coordinated checks in Hagen, Duisburg, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Krefeld, Velbert and Wuppertal.
• Building minister Ina Scharrenbach (CDU) joined inspections in Hagen and Duisburg and warned that profiteers who cram people into squalid blocks will face consequences.
• Authorities say criminal networks buy derelict properties, charge excessive rents to foreigners and pair the scheme with social-benefit fraud.
• The ministry reports residents from Bulgaria and Romania in North Rhine-Westphalia increased from about 80,250 in 2013 to more than 276,231 by the end of 2024, though the pace has eased.
• Regional reporting depicts a persistent cat-and-mouse fight in the Ruhrgebiet, with closures shifting the problem and million-euro scams straining already cash‑tight city budgets.