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{{StubNotice}}
{{InfoboxCompany
{{InfoboxCompany
| Name = {{PAGENAME}}
| Name = {{PAGENAME}}
| Type =
| Type =Private
| Founded =
| Founded =1994
| Industry =
| Industry =Real estate
| Official Website =
| Official Website =https://www.akelius.com/
| Logo =
| Logo =Akelius Logo.svg
}}{{Placeholder box|Akelius is a corporate landlord that owns 20,000 rental apartments in major cities such as New York, Boston, Washington, Austin, Toronto, Montreal, Québec City, Ottawa, Paris and London.}}
}}'''[[wikipedia:Akelius|Akelius]]''' is a corporate landlord that owns 20,000 rental apartments in major cities such as New York, Boston, Washington, Austin, Toronto, Montreal, Québec City, Ottawa, Paris and London.
 
[https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/04/corporate-landlord-abusing-tenants-human-rights-says-un-housing-expert]$1
==Consumer impact summary==
{{Placeholder box|The company has been accused by the United Nations of deliberately causing inhumane living conditions in order to drive residents out of their apartments and increase prices on subsequent tenants.}}
 
[https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/04/corporate-landlord-abusing-tenants-human-rights-says-un-housing-expert]$2
==Incidents==
==Incidents==
{{Placeholder box|If the company page is short enough and/or the incident is not deserving of it own page, add incidents below in sub-sections (including the points outlined in [[Consumer_Action_Taskforce:Sample/Incident/Help]]) without linking/creating an incident page.
If the company has various incidents listed and/or this page is getting too long, create subsections linking to each incident while linking to the main article and including a short summary. To link to the page use the "Hatnote" or "Main" templates.
If the company has numerous incidents then format them in a table (see [[Amazon]]). }}
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].
===Example incident one (''date'')===
{{Main|link to the main article}}
Short summary of the incident (could be the same as the summary preceding the article).
===Example incident two (''date'')===
...


==Products==
=== Exploitative Rent Policies Under Berlin's Rent Cap (2020-2021) ===
{{Placeholder box|This is a list of the company's product lines '''with articles on this wiki'''.
In 2020, the company evaded Berlin's short-term rent cap by including '''"shadow rents"''' in leases—secret provisions requesting payment of '''as much as five times the advertised rent''', retroactively payable if the law were to be annulled.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Šustr |first=Nicolas |date=26 Jul 2020 |title=Akelius will Kasse machen |url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1139639.akelius-akelius-will-kasse-machen.html |url-status=live |access-date=11 Apr 2025 |website=www.nd-aktuell.de}}</ref> When Germany's constitutional court ruled the rent cap null and void in 2021, Akelius started to recover these overpayments from renters, fueling indignation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=Imogen |date=21 Apr 2021 |title='Extraordinary situation': What can you do if your Berlin landlord demands rent cap arrears? |url=https://www.thelocal.de/20210421/extraordinary-situation-what-can-you-do-if-your-berlin-landlord-demands-rent-cap-arrears/ |url-status=live |access-date=11 Apr 2025 |website=The Local Germany}}</ref> The Berlin government intervened with a '''€10 million interest-free loan fund''' to aid affected tenants from being evicted.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Casey |first=Ruairi |last2=Ponsford |first2=Matthew |date=26 Apr 2021 |title=The Enduring Legacy of Berlin’s Rent Cap |url=https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/04/the-enduring-legacy-of-berlins-rent-cap |url-status=live |access-date=11 Apr 2025 |website=Tribune}}</ref>
* [[Example product line one]] (release date): Short summary of the product's incidents.
* [[Example product line two]] (release date):}}


==See also==
=== UN Human Rights Violations Accusations (2020) ===
{{Placeholder box|Link to relevant theme articles or companies with similar incidents.}}
The '''United Nations Human Rights Council''' called out Akelius for systemic '''"renovictions"'''—coercive renovations to remove tenants and circumvent rent control.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smee |first=Michael |date=11 May 2020 |title=UN accuses Toronto apartment owner of human rights abuses |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/united-nations-toronto-apartment-human-rights-1.5563756 |url-status=live |access-date=11 Apr 2025 |website=CBC News}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=29 Apr 2020 |title=Corporate landlord is abusing tenants’ human rights, says UN housing expert |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/04/corporate-landlord-abusing-tenants-human-rights-says-un-housing-expert?LangID=E&NewsID=25845 |url-status=live |access-date=11 Apr 2025 |website=www.ohchr.org}}</ref> The UN Special Rapporteur on housing reported cases where residents were forced to live in uninhabitable conditions for months, with no running water or heating,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simonpillai |first=Radheyan |date=11 Feb 2021 |title=As lockdown hit, Akelius tenants say cold water shortage lasted 96 days |url=https://nowtoronto.com/real-estate/akelius-canada-100-vaughan-road-cold-water-shortage/ |url-status=live |access-date=11 Apr 2025 |website=NOW Magazine}}</ref> while Akelius undertook upscale overhauls to justify outrageous rent increases.<ref name=":0" /> Investigations also showed the company targeted low-income communities, disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations.


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Akelius]]

Latest revision as of 19:17, 11 April 2025

Article Status Notice: This Article is a stub

Notice: This Article Requires Additional Expansion

This article is underdeveloped, and needs additional work to meet the wiki's Content Guidelines and be in line with our Mission Statement for comprehensive coverage of consumer protection issues. Issues may include:

  • This article needs to be expanded to provide meaningful information
  • This article requires additional verifiable evidence to demonstrate systemic impact
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  • The article is simply too short, and lacks sufficient content

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Akelius
Basic information
Founded 1994
Type Private
Industry Real estate
Official website https://www.akelius.com/

Akelius is a corporate landlord that owns 20,000 rental apartments in major cities such as New York, Boston, Washington, Austin, Toronto, Montreal, Québec City, Ottawa, Paris and London.

Incidents[edit | edit source]

Exploitative Rent Policies Under Berlin's Rent Cap (2020-2021)[edit | edit source]

In 2020, the company evaded Berlin's short-term rent cap by including "shadow rents" in leases—secret provisions requesting payment of as much as five times the advertised rent, retroactively payable if the law were to be annulled.[1] When Germany's constitutional court ruled the rent cap null and void in 2021, Akelius started to recover these overpayments from renters, fueling indignation.[2] The Berlin government intervened with a €10 million interest-free loan fund to aid affected tenants from being evicted.[3]

UN Human Rights Violations Accusations (2020)[edit | edit source]

The United Nations Human Rights Council called out Akelius for systemic "renovictions"—coercive renovations to remove tenants and circumvent rent control.[4][5] The UN Special Rapporteur on housing reported cases where residents were forced to live in uninhabitable conditions for months, with no running water or heating,[6] while Akelius undertook upscale overhauls to justify outrageous rent increases.[5] Investigations also showed the company targeted low-income communities, disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Šustr, Nicolas (26 Jul 2020). "Akelius will Kasse machen". www.nd-aktuell.de. Retrieved 11 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. Goodman, Imogen (21 Apr 2021). "'Extraordinary situation': What can you do if your Berlin landlord demands rent cap arrears?". The Local Germany. Retrieved 11 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. Casey, Ruairi; Ponsford, Matthew (26 Apr 2021). "The Enduring Legacy of Berlin's Rent Cap". Tribune. Retrieved 11 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Smee, Michael (11 May 2020). "UN accuses Toronto apartment owner of human rights abuses". CBC News. Retrieved 11 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Corporate landlord is abusing tenants' human rights, says UN housing expert". www.ohchr.org. 29 Apr 2020. Retrieved 11 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. Simonpillai, Radheyan (11 Feb 2021). "As lockdown hit, Akelius tenants say cold water shortage lasted 96 days". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 11 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)