The infamous SCHUFA report in Germany: How to apply for it and what it says

In Germany, data on your creditworthiness can be collected and stored by several companies. The SCHUFA Holding AG, is the largest and most known credit agency, with data about everyone who is registered in Germany. The abbreviation Schufa stands for “Schutzgemeinschaft für allgemeine Kreditsicherung”.
Whenever someone refers to the SCHUFA score, SCHUFA report, SCHUFA rating and so on, they’re talking about the same thing – the “SCHUFA Auskunft” in German -: a creditworthiness report about you.

The SCHUFA report is a letter of several pages. In the cover letter, the credit agency lists a reference number, the SCHUFA record number and your personal data such as last name, first name, date and place of birth. SCHUFA also lists current and previous addresses in Germany.
Since no one is added to the file without notice, the credit agency also communicates the initial information about the SCHUFA procedure, which is the same as your premiere entry. This can be, for example, your very first account opening. In another section of the letter, Schufa lists the probability values transmitted in the last 12 months. These are the inquiries from banks and other contractual partners – depending on which contracts you have concluded in the last 12 months.
On the next page, SCHUFA lists your current base score of a theoretically possible 100% – the higher, the better. On further pages, the credit agency lists all inquiries, information and notifications from contractual partners that are stored at SCHUFA for as long as the contractual relationship exists. The self-disclosure is very clear and easy to understand. If you discover incorrect entries, you can have them deleted by contacting the service.

Whenever someone talks about SCHUFA score, SCHUFA report or SCHUFA ratings, they mean the same thing: your creditworthiness. It shows how reliably you have met financial obligations such as utility bills and credit card payments to date, and how likely you are to continue to meet them dutifully.
You can find some examples of the SCHUFA ratings on their website meineschufa.de.

If you’ve paid all your bills on time and in full, you won’t have any problems with your SCHUFA score. Changing banks too often, or having many bank account could have a negative impact on your SCHUFA .

Creditworthiness is another term for credit standing. If you want to take out a loan, for example, your bank checks whether you are creditworthy. If you have paid your bills on time and in full in the past, you will most likely continue to meet your payment obligations in the future. The risk of non-payment is low and your creditworthiness is given.

If an invoice or installment payment has not been paid in accordance with the contract, this should be made good as soon as possible.
Existing (credit) obligations should always be fulfilled in accordance with the contract and paid on time.
Credit lines should not be overdrawn.
The total amount of all financial obligations should always be kept in view and be in reasonable proportion to income or assets.

The information that SCHUFA is allowed to collect about consumers must be limited. It is true that creditors are allowed to obtain information about the economic behavior of consumers. However, SCHUFA does not disclose information that provides insight into consumers’ financial resources or consumer behavior. Therefore, a creditworthiness inquiry does not include information on the following topics:
* Income
* Assets
* Occupation
* Marital status
* Nationality
* Purchase behavior
* Memberships
* Religion
* Political attitude

f you want to open a checking account, banks will check your SCHUFA score – same when applying for a loan. Your SCHUFA score also has an influence on how much interest you will pay for this loan. The higher the risk for the bank, the higher the interest rate will be.
Your SCHUFA rating is very important also when you are looking for an apartment: Landlords and property managers are guaranteed to ask for it – among many other documents. Telephone and Internet providers are usually interested in your payment history and your creditworthiness too.

Once a year, you can request your SCHUFA report free of charge – here. Fill out the form on the site and upload a copy of your ID and your registration certificate.
It may take several weeks before you receive your credit report. Often, however, you need the credit report immediately. You can request an immediate one via the ImmobilienScout24 platform, locally at Postbank and Volksbank branches or on the SCHUFA website, paying about 30 euro.

You can request your SCHUFA report once a year free of charge. There is no validity period. However, your credit rating can change relatively quickly – for example, if you overdraw your account very often or improve your spending habits. The exact terms are set by the respective providers themselves. When looking for an apartment, for example, your SCHUFA report should not be older than three months.

The official SCHUFA website is www.meineschufa.de. There you can find insights into your creditworthiness, check SCHUFA entries, update your information and much more.