REGIONAL ASSOCIATION - Regional Association Warns Against Commercial Housing Benefit Portals

Saarbrücken, 19.05.2026 Press Office Contact: Schlossplatz Phone (0681) 506-1304 Simon Ohliger 66119 Saarbrücken Fax (0681) 506-1390 Regional Association Warns Against Commercial Housing Benefit Portals Private Providers Charge Fees for a Free Citizen Service Due to a recent increase in reported cases, the Regional Association Saarbrücken warns against websites that offer a paid "application service" for the digital housing benefit application. Citizens of the Regional Association can submit their application for rent or burden subsidy independently, directly, and free of charge via the official website for digital citizen services (www.regionalverband.de/buergerdienste). Websites that charge a processing fee for submitting the housing benefit application originate from private providers. These charge people who are dependent on support for a free service offered by the authority. Many affected persons only realize their mistake when they receive an invoice after submitting their data. In such cases, the 14-day cancellation period for online purchases should be used immediately, and the application should be submitted again directly to the housing benefit authority. In the past, authorities and consumer protection centers in various federal states have repeatedly warned against questionable service portals run by private operators. There is also a risk that the information will be forwarded late or to the wrong place. Those affected are often never informed again about the status of their application. In the worst case, incorrect application submission can lead to the expiration of deadlines and thus the loss of entitlements. Especially when using a search engine, it is easy to end up on private providers’ websites, as these are often ranked higher on search engine results pages than government sites. By using a design language similar to official websites, these commercial offers are sometimes mistaken for the free contact pages of the authorities. To avoid unnecessary costs or the disclosure of personal data to the wrong parties, applicants should ensure that they only enter their data via the official and free website. The online housing benefit application has been available since 2024. Meanwhile, continuation and increase applications as well as change notifications can also be submitted this way. The conventional submission of applications in person or by post, via data protection-compliant email, or by fax is also still possible. The number of housing benefit applications has been increasing for years. The joint housing benefit authority of the Saarlouis district and the Regional Association Saarbrücken currently handles 7,120 ongoing cases. The share of online applications for initial and continuation applications this year is 15 percent, which is six percentage points higher than in 2025. More information on housing benefit at: www.regionalverband.de/wohngeld