Negative Schufa
A negative Schufa can lead to difficulties when taking out credit as well as when making a purchase on account or concluding a contract (e.g. a mobile phone contract).
A negative Schufa can be deleted
The entry of negative characteristics can be deleted again under defined conditions. This usually happens in two stages. As soon as the debtor has settled the outstanding claim or repaid the outstanding loan, the negative Schufa entry is marked as settled. The entry is then finally deleted after 3 years.
If the negative Schufa related to a non-judgmental claim under 1,000 euros, as is usually the case with mobile phone contracts or mail-order claims, it will be deleted within one month after settlement of the claim. If an arrest warrant for the submission of a sworn affidavit was issued, or if the sworn affidavit was submitted, these data are usually removed from the Schufa after deletion at the local court.
Negative Schufa: View your own Schufa report
People affected by a negative Schufa therefore have options to influence the duration of the entry. First of all, a personal report should be requested from Schufa in order to inspect all data. If entries appear that are incomplete or incorrect, the person concerned must become active themselves. They should contact the company that initiated the entry immediately and clarify the matter. If the errors are confirmed, the corresponding data will be deleted within a short time.
However, if the lawfulness of the entry is revealed, the negative Schufa can be deleted again as soon as the required payment is proven. The three-year period after settlement of the claim does not necessarily have to be accepted. As soon as the creditor confirms that all payments have been made properly, the negative Schufa can be deleted prematurely. For this, the person concerned also needs a deletion certificate, which the competent local court issues on request.
As a rule, a negative Schufa indicates liquidity problems of the person concerned, which prevent the outstanding claim from being paid off in a single sum. But even in this case there are solutions that pave the way to a clean Schufa.
A loan despite Schufa settles a negative Schufa
If a negative Schufa entry has been made, there are nevertheless numerous possibilities on the financial markets in Germany and Europe to obtain a loan despite Schufa or even without Schufa. If the negative Schufa stems only from an unpaid mobile phone or mail-order bill, the chances are good to find a flexible credit institution in Germany that places more value on the applicant's secure income than on a clean Schufa.
If the negative indicators are more extensive, taking out a loan without Schufa is an option. The best-known providers of this type of loan are located in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Since they do not cooperate with Schufa, they will also not make an inquiry there. However, they place certain requirements on the borrower's creditworthiness. Permanent employment with the same employer for at least 6 months is a basic prerequisite. In addition, a minimum income is usually expected, as well as an existing current account so that the monthly income can be proven by bank statements.
If these conditions are met, approval of a loan without Schufa is possible. With this money, for example, the liability that led to the negative Schufa entry can then be settled. As soon as all evidence is available, the negative Schufa will be cleared.
Clearing a negative Schufa as a self-employed person through private investors
Since self-employed persons do not have the fixed income of an employee, a loan without Schufa from Switzerland or Liechtenstein is not an option for them. The path to a solution for this group of people is somewhat different.
In recent years, various credit platforms have been established in Germany that offer loan seekers the opportunity to interest private lenders in their loan project. These private investors are more interested in how income and expenses relate to each other and for what purpose the borrowed money will be used.
The current state of the applicant's Schufa usually does not matter to them. Therefore, self-employed people have good chances via this route to obtain a loan if they succeed in convincing private lenders with persuasive arguments and a coherent presentation.
The actual processing is then carried out by a bank that pays the money of the investors to the borrower. The borrower can then use the amount, for example, to settle the liabilities that caused their negative Schufa.
General information about Schufa
Schufa Holding AG, the protection association for general credit protection, is known to most people in Germany by name. However, few know how Schufa works and what purpose it serves.
As a German credit agency, it is supported by lending companies. The essential business purpose of Schufa is to protect more than 7,000 contractual partners from credit defaults. This is achieved by collecting numerous individual data from the current 66.2 million people. The almost 500 million individual data items initially relate to the personal data of citizens, such as name, date of birth and previous addresses.
In addition, all data regarding payment behavior are recorded. This includes personal bank accounts, installment transactions, credit cards, loans and guarantees, leasing contracts, mobile phone contracts, mail-order accounts as well as payment defaults on dunned and undisputed claims.
Contract partners of Schufa: Do they contribute to a negative Schufa?
Schufa receives the majority of its data from the contractual partners. Some data, however, are obtained independently, for example from the public debtor directories of the local courts. The more than 7,000 contractual partners include credit institutions, leasing companies, telecommunications providers, mail-order and retail companies as well as energy suppliers.
Contrary to general perception, positive data far outweigh negative data, because more than 90% of the recorded people have a positive result. However, it can happen that a negative Schufa entry occurs. This can have many reasons, for example an unpaid mobile phone bill or a missed installment payment. Those who receive, for example, payment orders or enforcement judgments must initially accept the corresponding Schufa entries as long as they are based on a dunned and justified claim.