# Hessian Rent Protection Regulation Held Invalid by Regional Court > The Regional Court of Frankfurt considers the extended Hessian Rent Protection Regulation invalid due to outdated data and inadequate reasoning. Source: https://www.mtrlegal.com/en/hessian-rent-protection-regulation-invalid/ · Language: en · Updated: 2026-11-06 --- The [Landgericht Frankfurt am Main (Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main)](https://ordentliche-gerichtsbarkeit.hessen.de/presse/aktuelle-mietpreisbremse-in-hessen-unwirksam) has held that the hessische Mieterschutzverordnung (Hessian Rent Protection Regulation), which was extended in November 2025, is invalid due to inadequate reasoning (LG Frankfurt am Main, judgment of 4 November 2026 – 2-11 S 110/26 (case no.)). As a result, a tenant was only able to recover excessive rent payments up to and including November 2025. Her claim was unsuccessful insofar as she sought reimbursement for the period from December 2025 to August 2026. ## Recovery of Excessive Rent Payments ### Four-room apartment in Frankfurt’s Bahnhofsviertel district From June 2024, the claimant rented a four-room apartment in the Bahnhofsviertel district of Frankfurt am Main. At the start of the tenancy, the monthly net rent was EUR 1,450. According to the Frankfurt rent index, the local comparable rent for the apartment was approximately EUR 1,040. The tenancy ended in August 2026. The apartment is located in an area designated as a tight housing market under the Hessian Rent Protection Regulation. The state government had enacted this regulation on the basis of the [so-called rent cap](https://www.mtrlegal.com/wiki/mietpreisbremse/) pursuant to § 556d BGB (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, German Civil Code). ### Different outcomes for two periods The claimant sought reimbursement from her landlords for rent payments that, in her view, violated the rent cap. The proceedings concerned two distinct periods: - The claimant succeeded in respect of rent paid up to and including November 2025. - Her claim for repayment failed in respect of rent paid from December 2025 up to and including August 2026. The 11th Civil Chamber, which has jurisdiction over tenancy matters, based this distinction on the period during which the Hessian Rent Protection Regulation was in force. The original provisions, which applied from November 2020 to November 2025, were extended by a further regulation until the end of November 2026 shortly before they were due to expire. ## Extension Regulation Invalid in the Court’s View ### No sufficiently current data According to the judgment, the claimant could not base her claims for the period from December 2025 onwards on the extended Rent Protection Regulation. The Regional Court held that the extension regulation enacted in November 2025 was invalid due to inadequate reasoning. The designation of an area as a tight housing market had to be based, at a minimum, on data collected sufficiently recently. The federal legislature had already highlighted this requirement when introducing the rent cap. In the Chamber’s view, this requirement had clearly not been met when the regulation was extended in November 2025. The state government had relied on the same empirical data for the new regulation as it had used for the provisions enacted in November 2020. In the Court’s assessment, data more than five years old did not constitute sufficiently current data. ### Reasoning from 2020 adopted almost unchanged The Court also criticised the fact that the state government had used the reasoning from 2020 almost verbatim for the 2025 regulation, without adding any new considerations. Consequently, no new factual developments or findings had been incorporated into the reasoning. According to the Chamber, the state government had also failed to obtain and evaluate new statements from the municipalities concerned. The explanatory memorandum to the regulation itself had considered such statements from mayors and lord mayors necessary for a comprehensive assessment of the housing market. Nevertheless, clearly outdated assessments by the municipalities had been used for the extension regulation. ## Scope and Procedural Status of the Judgment ### Judgment has direct effect only between the parties The judgment has direct effect solely as between the claimant and her landlords. It therefore does not invalidate the Hessian Rent Protection Regulation with universally binding effect. Nevertheless, the judgment is of practical significance. The 11th Civil Chamber of the Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main hears all appeals in residential tenancy disputes in Frankfurt. In addition, the property owners’ association Haus & Grund concludes from the judgment that the Rent Protection Regulation is also no longer tenable for other municipalities in Hesse. This is the association’s assessment and not a judicial finding extending beyond the specific dispute. ### Appeal on points of law to the Federal Court of Justice permitted The judgment is not final. Due to the fundamental importance of the legal matter, the Regional Court permitted an appeal on points of law to the Bundesgerichtshof (BGH, Federal Court of Justice). A final ruling by the highest court is therefore still pending. The provision concerned is the Mieterschutzverordnung vom 12. November 2025 (Rent Protection Regulation of 12 November 2025), entitled “Verordnung zur Änderung der Mieterschutzverordnung” (Regulation Amending the Rent Protection Regulation). It was published on pages 1 to 29 of issue no. 74 of the Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt des Landes Hessen (Hesse Law and Ordinance Gazette) dated 17 November 2025. ## Significance for Tenancy Disputes The judgment demonstrates that claims relating to the rent cap do not depend solely on the amount of the agreed rent and the local comparable rent. It may be equally decisive whether the regulation applicable during the relevant period satisfies the statutory requirements for adequate reasoning. As the judgment is not yet final and directly binds only the parties to the proceedings, each case requires an individual assessment. MTR Legal assists companies, investors and high-net-worth individuals with matters relating to tenancies, real estate and associated disputes. Further information is available under [Legal advice on real estate law](https://www.mtrlegal.com/rechtsberatung/immobilienrecht/).