{"coverage_note":"Five categories were checked for ImmobilienScout24 (immobilienscout24.de): (1) Pricing \u2014 a confirmed finding of undisclosed MieterPlus subscription charges bundled with Schufa credit check purchases, supported by multiple independent consumer complaints. (2) Availability \u2014 a confirmed finding of fraudulent ghost listings documented by Verbraucherzentrale NRW and acknowledged by the platform itself. (3) Identity/merchant-of-record \u2014 no finding; searches surfaced billing complaints but no verified evidence of structural liability ambiguity or counterparty mismatch. (4) Policy/cancellation \u2014 a confirmed finding of systematic non-enforcement of stated withdrawal rights and auto-renewal disputes, evidenced by Trustpilot reviews and the platform's own customer-service responses. (5) Undisclosed constraints \u2014 no finding; subscription lock-in and Schufa upgrade complaints were surfaced but did not meet the threshold of a mid-transaction capability block preventing a core agent task. No regulatory settlements or court filings were identified for any category, and the identity and undisclosed-constraint categories returned no actionable discrepancies.","human_handoff_required_for":[{"action":"Abort checkout and alert user when an unintended line item (e.g., 'MieterPlus' subscription) appears in the order summary alongside a Schufa credit check purchase, since the platform has a documented pattern of bundling unchosen subscription charges without clear pre-payment disclosure.","evidence":[{"description":"Multiple consumer complaints document that MieterPlus subscription fees are added to Schufa credit check orders without clear consent or disclosure before payment confirmation, with consumers discovering the unexpected charge only after receiving a payment confirmation email.","reference":"https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.immobilienscout24.de"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-30"},{"action":"Halt any step that involves contacting a landlord, submitting a rental application, transferring payment, or sharing personal documents for a listing found on ImmobilienScout24 until the listing has been independently verified as genuine (e.g., cross-checked against Google Maps Street View and the landlord's identity confirmed via official channels), because fraudulent ghost listings are documented on the platform.","evidence":[{"description":"The NRW consumer advice center (Verbraucherzentrale NRW) publicly warned that fraudulent/fake apartment listings are placed on ImmobilienScout24, and ImmobilienScout24's own security page acknowledges that fraudulent listings do occasionally reach the platform despite countermeasures.","reference":"https://www.verbraucherzentrale.nrw/wohnen/mietrecht/wohnungsbetrug-so-erkennen-sie-fake-angebote-auf-immobilienportalen-11919"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-30"},{"action":"Pause and escalate to the user before completing any subscription purchase on ImmobilienScout24 to explicitly confirm the minimum contract term and auto-renewal status displayed in the checkout, because the platform has a documented pattern of enforcing full 12-month minimum terms and auto-renewal charges even when users claim they were not adequately disclosed at sign-up.","evidence":[{"description":"Multiple Trustpilot reviews from 2024\u20132025 document that ImmoScout24 enforces full minimum-term commitments and auto-renewal charges even when users claim improper enrollment or submit cancellation within legal withdrawal windows, with ImmoScout24's own customer-service replies confirming this position.","reference":"https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.immobilienscout24.de"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-30"},{"action":"Escalate to the user and advise written cancellation with timestamped confirmation before submitting any cancellation request for an ImmoScout24 subscription, because the platform has a documented pattern of rejecting cancellations submitted within claimed withdrawal windows and continuing to charge until the end of the full minimum term.","evidence":[{"description":"User-reported cases show cancellation notices submitted within legal withdrawal periods are rejected and held until the end of a 12-month minimum term, and refunds are denied even when users were no longer active on the platform.","reference":"https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.immobilienscout24.de"}],"last_checked_date":"2026-06-30"}],"record_verification":{"last_checked_agentic_scan":"2026-07-01","last_checked_human_verified":null},"vendor_id":"immobilienscout24","verified_discrepancies":[{"actuals":"Multiple independently-documented consumer complaints describe unauthorized 'MieterPlus' subscription charges being added alongside Schufa credit check payments, without clear consent or disclosure at checkout. Consumers report discovering the unexpected charge only after receiving a payment confirmation, indicating the fee is not transparently presented before the transaction completes. Complaints also reference duplicate invoices for the same service, suggesting systemic billing irregularities.","discrepancy_start_date_est":"Early 2024 (earliest documented complaints); broader pattern may predate this","evidence":[{"description":"A Trustpilot reviewer (dated 2024) reports being charged for a 'MieterPlus' subscription that was activated without clear consent during a Schufa transaction, stating the service 'explicitly stated no hidden fees' but an unauthorized subscription was included in the payment.","reference":"https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.immobilienscout24.de"},{"description":"An AskmeOffers review aggregator page documents a user experience from February 2024 describing unexpected MieterPlus activation alongside a Schufa payment, characterizing the timing as a 'deliberate attempt to obscure the additional charge.'","reference":"https://askmeoffers.com/users-review/immobilienscout24-de/"},{"description":"A Trustpilot reviewer advises affected users to file complaints with Germany's digital services authority (dsc.bund.de), citing lack of transparency, unclear consent, and duplicate invoices for services not used or requested.","reference":"https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.immobilienscout24.de?page=3"}],"interim_guidance":"When completing any transaction on ImmoScout24 that involves a Schufa credit check or tenant services, an agent must explicitly inspect the full order summary before confirming payment to detect any bundled subscription (e.g., MieterPlus) that was not part of the user's intended purchase. If any unintended line item appears, the agent should abort the transaction and alert the user before proceeding. Do not assume the checkout total reflects only the explicitly selected service.","last_checked_date":"2026-07-01","status":"active","type":"pricing_discrepancy","vendor_claim":"ImmoScout24 markets its Schufa credit check service as having no hidden fees, and presents additional subscription products (such as 'MieterPlus') as optional or separately disclosed at the point of purchase."},{"actuals":"The NRW consumer advice center (Verbraucherzentrale NRW) has publicly warned that fraudulent/fake property listings are placed on ImmobilienScout24 (alongside Immowelt and Immonet), with the platform itself acknowledging that despite its safety measures, fraudulent listings do occasionally appear on the platform. This means agents or users may contact, apply for, or even transact on properties that do not exist or are not genuinely available under the advertised terms \u2014 a classic ghost-inventory problem.","discrepancy_start_date_est":"Ongoing; consumer regulator warnings documented at least through 2024","evidence":[{"description":"The NRW consumer advice center warns against fake apartment ads on platforms such as ImmobilienScout24, targeting users' money and data by exploiting housing market pressure.","reference":"https://www.heise.de/en/news/Real-estate-consumer-advocates-warn-against-fake-listings-on-online-platforms-9855076.html"},{"description":"ImmobilienScout24's own fraud-protection page acknowledges that despite its measures, fraudulent property listings do occasionally make it onto the platform.","reference":"https://sicherheit.immobilienscout24.de/cchelp.html"}],"interim_guidance":"Before any agent proceeds to contact a landlord, submit an application, or transfer any payment or personal data for a listing found on ImmobilienScout24, independently verify the listing is genuine: cross-check the property address against other portals or Google Maps Street View, confirm the listed agent or landlord exists via official channels, and never transmit payment or sensitive documents in response to a listing that has not been corroborated by a real-world verification step. Do not treat the presence of a listing on the platform as sufficient confirmation of availability.","last_checked_date":"2026-07-01","status":"active","type":"availability_discrepancy","vendor_claim":"ImmobilienScout24 presents property listings to users as genuine, available inventory on its platform, implying that advertised apartments and homes are real and can be contacted or booked under the displayed conditions."},{"actuals":"Multiple independently documented user cases show that: (1) cancellation notices submitted within legal withdrawal windows are rejected and held until the end of a 12-month minimum term; (2) auto-renewal charges continue after users believe contracts have lapsed, with refunds denied even when users were no longer active; and (3) users report being enrolled in subscription tiers (e.g. 'WohnenPlus 12') without clear consent, then denied cancellation or refund. ImmoScout24's own Trustpilot replies confirm the company's position that auto-renewal and minimum terms are binding even when disputed by users who claim they were not adequately disclosed.","discrepancy_start_date_est":"Unconfirmed; complaints documented from at least mid-2024 through early 2026","evidence":[{"description":"A Trustpilot reviewer describes exercising their legal right of withdrawal after being incorrectly assigned a 'WohnenPlus 12' subscription on July 18, 2024, only to be told cancellation would not take effect until July 19, 2025 \u2014 the end of the 12-month minimum term.","reference":"https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.immobilienscout24.de?page=8"},{"description":"A Trustpilot reviewer reports that auto-renewal charged them for an additional 5\u20136 months beyond their intended contract end date, and ImmoScout24 refused to refund those months, citing the minimum term and active renewal clause as binding.","reference":"https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.immobilienscout24.de?page=7"},{"description":"A Trustpilot reviewer explicitly states that a product labelled 'WohnenPlus S 12 (monatlich)' was advertised as monthly-cancellable but actually carries a 12-month minimum, describing this as misleading and inconsistent with what was shown during sign-up.","reference":"https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.immobilienscout24.de?page=3"}],"interim_guidance":"Do not assume a subscription on ImmoScout24 can be cancelled at the end of the current billing period. Before completing any subscription purchase on behalf of a user, explicitly confirm the minimum contract term displayed in the checkout flow, verify whether auto-renewal is pre-enabled, and record these details. If a cancellation task is requested, warn the user that ImmoScout24 has a documented pattern of enforcing the full minimum term even when withdrawal is claimed within consumer-law windows, and advise the user to submit cancellation in writing and retain a timestamped confirmation.","last_checked_date":"2026-07-01","status":"active","type":"policy_discrepancy","vendor_claim":"ImmoScout24 states that its WohnenPlus (tenant) subscriptions can be cancelled according to the stated minimum contract term displayed at booking, and that users are clearly informed of renewal terms at the time of purchase."}]}