What is SCHUFA and how do I get it for free?

SCHUFA stands for: “Schutzorganisation für Allgemeine Kreditsicherung”, a sort of “organization for general credit safety”. Will you remember that?

Not to worry, luckily we have experts like Elisa Stella, Founder of Düsseldorf Expat Assistant, to give us all the helpful tips we need to get our lives started in Germany.

The SCHUFA Holding AG is actually a private company tracking and keeping credit records in Germany: as soon as you register your residence (Anmeldung) or open a bank account, your personal record will start following you in many aspects of daily life.

• Looking for a flat to rent? You need to show a SCHUFA certification.
• Applying for a loan? Buying a new car in installments? You need to show a SCHUFA certification.
• Getting a landline from Deutsche Telekom? They’ll check your SCHUFA!

The more debt you have, the more bills or fines you don’t pay punctually, the higher your score will be.

SCHUFA creates a score out of 600. 100-199 meaning that you show a very low risk and will likely always pay all your bills on time. 600 meaning you are not able to successfully pay off your debts. 

If you have anything above a 200, it will be hard to recover. Moreover, it takes between 3 to 6 years after you resolved your unpaid bills to recover your SCHUFA record.

…and don’t think those debts won’t follow you after leaving Germany!

It’s definitely wise to keep your Schufa clean, in order to show you’re able to pay your bills and that you can be trusted as a customer and/or tenant.

So, here’s how you can get your SCHUFA record for free:

Given your SCHUFA record is clean, let’s see how to get a SCHUFA-Auskunft free of charge (for instance to convince a landlord that you are a suitable tenant for his property).

1. Click on the Union Jack on the SCHUFA website 
2. Download the PDF form and print it
3. Fill it in properly, which means in a tidy, complete and precise way
4. Tick off the field “Current scores Please tick if you would like to receive your current scores.”
5. DO NOT TICK OFF “Order Credit Report €29,95”
6. Provide a copy of your passport or ID-Card 
7. Provide a Meldebescheinigung (confirmation of your residence, no older than three months/not the Anmeldung if the Anmeldung is older than three months – you can pick this up at your local Bürgerbüro)
8. Put the filled form, the copy of your passport, and the Meldebescheinigung in an envelope, stamp it and write your name and address as the sender
9. Send all by post to SCHUFA Holding AG – Postfach 10 25 66 – 44725 Bochum, Germany
10. Be patient, you´ll get all details per post – usually in 2-3 weeks.

If you’re on a time crunch and don’t mind paying the fee, there are a number of ways you can get your SCHUFA:

1. By applying on their website at meineschufa.de
2. By downloading and printing off a form from their website, including all necessary documents (copies of your passport, registration documents, and filled out form) and sending it to your local PostBank
3. Or going into your local PostBank and getting the forms filled out there

Of course, for many of you, filling out the form online will be the easiest option.

Everybody can get his/her Schufa-Auskunft free of charge once a year, so create multiple copies of it and use them whenever you need them during the year.

What happens if I just moved to Germany?

If you’ve just moved to Germany and your new landlord or another authority is asking for your SCHUFA score, it is clear you will not be able to provide one. It is not possible to transfer your credit score from your previous country over to Germany.

On a positive note, if you had a bad credit score elsewhere, this will not be transferred to Germany. On a not-so-positive note, many landlords insist to see these documents which might mean you may end up just taking any apartment you can where the landlord isn’t requesting a SCHUFA score. If you’re set on the apartment you’ve found, try to ask your landlord if they’d be willing to put together a non-formal Mieterselbstauskunft. They can grab a free template online easily enough and this will also act as a form of proof that you have the funds to cover your rent.

If this is the case, stay calm, find an apartment, register in the city, open your bank account, and then apply for your free SCHUFA record.

This will hopefully make your life in Germany a bit easier; a clean SCHUFA is a very reassuring cue to manage daily issues with a clear conscience.