It was last year that the property owner is said to have charged a fee of SEK 2,500 for a person to have "priority" for an apartment.

However, the person regretted it after signing the contract and the property owner first considered that he would pay a three-month notice period, but then said that it was enough to just pay the priority fee.

The tenant felt pressured to pay and after the incident turned to the Tenants' Association, which made a police report.

"Horrible way to exploit tenants"

Susanne Lindmark, a lawyer at the Tenants' Association in the Norrland region, says that this is not a common problem - but that there may be a dark figure.

- It is a terrible way to take advantage of tenants who are in a vulnerable situation and really need a rental apartment, she says.

Is there a risk that there will be many cases of this kind when the housing shortage gets worse?

- You can feel a concern, of course, that landlords should try to take advantage of tenants who really need housing and then try to charge such fees.

The property owner denies any wrongdoing

In police interrogation, the accused denies the crime.

He believes that it is an administrative fee for additional work and perceived that it was okay to charge a fee for the increased workload.

The man has also subsequently paid back the fee and removed the priority queue, but believes that this should not be seen as an acknowledgment.

- From our part, I think it seems clear that this is not a permitted fee to charge, but the landlord has made a different interpretation, so I think it is great that it comes up for review, says Susanne Lindmark.

The charges against the man are violation of the Land Code and the action for a fine.

The prosecutor believes that the fine should be SEK 10,000.

Hear lawyer Susanne Lindmark talk about why they chose to report the property owner to the police in the video above.