Whether it’s a car accident or a large back payment for electricity – sometimes extraordinary expenses can only be met with a short-term loan. But what if the house bank refuses the loan because of negative schufa entries??
Ways to a credit despite schufa entry
German banks have to check the creditworthiness of the customer before making a commitment. You do not grant loans without obtaining information from a credit agency – usually schufa in the case of private customers. However, those who have been turned down by their house bank can do the following:
- Check with other banks, as they may assess creditworthiness differently. Point out to the bank that it will first only make a request for terms and conditions and not a credit inquiry with schufa. Otherwise the credit rating could deteriorate due to inquiries with several banks.
- Check your own schufa information and the credit application for errors.
- Find a co-applicant or guarantor.
- Borrowing against an endowment or pension insurance policy.
- offer securities as collateral for the loan.
- Take out a private loan – whether on online credit platforms or from friends and family.
- Taking out a k loan as a student.
- If unemployed, apply for a loan from the relevant job center.
- Look for a loan from abroad.
If you constantly have financial problems, you should first go to a debt counselor – the sooner, the better. Private individuals who are already over-indebted should assume that taking out a further loan will accelerate the downward spiral. Organizations such as the social welfare office, Caritas, Diakonie, the German Red Cross and some consumer advice centers offer free advice. You can find free advice centers in your area at forum-schuldnerberatung.
Make an appointment as early as possible, as waiting times often last several months. In urgent situations, many counseling centers offer emergency appointments or help by telephone and e-mail. Some of them hold regular open consultations. During the waiting period, you can also gather all the documents and take advantage of various savings opportunities: from cancellation or dormancy of some insurances to electricity saving tips.
Debt counseling services help to draw up a debt settlement plan that the customer and the creditors agree to (out-of-court settlement attempt). In the case of overindebtedness, lenders are often willing to talk: for example, they can lower the monthly rate so that it becomes affordable, and even waive part of the debt. If the creditors reject the plan, private insolvency may be the cleanest solution, even if this step is bitter. Credit spirals sooner or later lead to insolvency. Here it is necessary to resist already the beginnings.
Submit credit request to other banks
When checking creditworthiness, each bank evaluates different factors to a different extent. With some providers, weak negative schufa characteristics increase the interest rate, but do not necessarily lead to a rejection. If you have been turned down by one or two banks because of insufficient creditworthiness, you can quickly submit a credit condition request online to a large number of banks. This request is sent to schufa, but is a neutral feature and does not affect the schufa score. Some of these banks also grant loans to self-employed persons and freelancers.
However, please note: online, you will initially only receive a provisional immediate decision based on your self-disclosure. The final decision is only made when you send the signed credit application with all the documents to the bank. The latter verifies its information, among other things by ordering a schufa report. This query with the feature "credit inquiry" is stored in schufa and burdens the score. After that, the bank can change the original credit offer and increase the interest rate or even reject the credit request, despite the immediate commitment given. The rejection of a signed credit application is considered by schufa to be a negative feature.
After the credit application, customers are contacted by a verivox advisor. To ensure that your application is not rejected, you can discuss it with the advisor before submitting it.
Check the credit application
Loans can also be rejected despite good schufa scores. This means that the desired monthly installment may be too high in comparison to their income. Do not calculate too tightly and rather choose a longer term to lower the rate. If you want to use the loan for a debt restructuring, you should specify this as the purpose of use. If the bank does not know that old loans will be paid off, it assumes that the monthly charge will be too high.
Have the schufa information corrected
Tests of schufa repeatedly find that it stores outdated or incorrect information. Once a year, you can check your credit history on meineschufa.Order De free of charge. Take the opportunity to check the information and have possible errors corrected. Each entry also shows which company transmitted the information to schufa. you can send an informal letter to this company and to schufa to request a correction. If you have evidence that the information is incorrect – for example, receipts or a cancellation notice – you should attach copies of these to the letter.
Co-applicants and guarantors
If you take out a loan together with a second applicant, you increase the likelihood of the loan being granted and often also get a better interest rate. A co-applicant can have a say in how the loan is used. The two borrowers can decide between themselves which of them will actually pay for the loan. A guarantor has a similarly positive effect on the granting of credit and interest rates. However, he cannot influence what the money is used for, and only has to pay if the borrower defaults. Both the second applicant and the guarantor should have a regular income and a good credit rating.
Endowment and annuity insurance
If you have a capital life insurance or a private pension insurance, you can take out a loan without a schufa check in the amount of the current surrender value. You can either
- apply for the loan directly with your insurer.
- Or offer insurance as collateral for an installment loan at a third bank.
Further information can be found under "policy loans".
securities loan
If you have a securities account, you can use it as collateral for a lombard loan (securities loan). Normally, the money borrowed in this way is used to buy other securities. However, some providers allow you to transfer the credit to your own checking account.
personal loan
If you can easily repay the loan despite a weak schufa score, you can also look for private lenders. The most obvious places to start are probably family or friends. In addition, you can apply for a loan from private individuals on various online platforms. Here, too, a credit check is carried out, but the acceptance criteria are often less strict than with banks. The interest rates are higher. If you pass the test, you can describe your individual case in detail and convince private investors of your merits.
K loan for students
the kreditanstalt fur wiederaufbau (k) grants subsidized loans for students, business start-ups and building owners. The granting of the student loan and the education loan is affected by "soft" information schufa characteristics not negative. The loan application is only rejected if:
- The student has submitted an affidavit;
- A warrant has been issued against him for the submission of an affidavit;
- The student is in an out-of-court debt settlement procedure or consumer insolvency proceedings.
loans from the jobcenter
If you need a loan without a schufa check because your unemployment benefit I is too low, you can apply for a housing allowance and possibly a top-up from unemployment benefit II. If you receive unemployment benefit II, you are entitled to a loan from the job center in emergency situations.
Unemployment benefit II (hartz IV) should theoretically be sufficient for all expenses with the exception of rent and heating costs. Jobseekers are supposed to save the money for larger purchases, such as new household appliances, from their regular benefits. If, for example, the refrigerator suddenly breaks down, the money is needed immediately and cannot be saved first. There is an "indispensable need". In such cases, the job center grants an interest-free, but strictly earmarked loan – naturally without a schufa check. However, the loan can be provided not only in cash but also in kind – that is, instead of money, the borrower receives a functioning refrigerator.
In the following months, the job center withholds installments of no more than 10 percent of the regular benefit until the entire loan amount has been repaid with it. Recipients of unemployment benefit II therefore only receive 90 percent of the regular benefits. Jobseekers are also entitled to credit without a credit rating for:
- The rent deposit (see §22 paragraph 6 of the second book of the social security code (SGB II));
- Rent, heating, water or electricity debts, if otherwise there is a threat of termination or blocking – but only if the utility company has refused to pay the debts in installments (§22 paragraph 8 SGB II);
- The purchase of material goods needed by the self-employed to start their self-employed activity – a maximum of 5.000 euro as a grant is possible (§16c SGB II).
- Necessary repairs to residential property are covered in full if they cost less than a reasonable annual rent would cost. For the rest, however, a loan can be brought (§22 paragraph 2 SGB II).
Loans without schufa from abroad
Since the schufa is a german institution, a loan from abroad – a so-called swiss loan – is usually granted without a schufa report. But be careful: the solvency is checked in a different way and the higher risk means higher interest rates. In addition, there are many opportunities for credit fraud, especially with such offers.
It is often difficult for customers to recognize dubious offers. Generally speaking, loans without schufa that entail costs or bundled transactions for the customer are to be classified as dubious. These are just some of the strategies a loan scammer might use:
- A loan from abroad is usually only granted through credit intermediaries. A reputable broker is paid by the bank, not by the customer. He should not demand a commission for successful credit mediation, no reimbursement of expenses incurred by his activity, and certainly no upfront costs. Chargeable phone numbers are a warning sign. also check if documents are sent cash on delivery – credit scammers can collect expensive fees for that.
- If the provider insists on a home visit, this is another warning sign. It is easier to persuade customers during a home visit. In addition, rogue brokers charge high driving costs for this after the fact – ask in advance who will pay the driving costs.
- don’t take out insurance, home savings contracts or real estate purchase agreements – even if the broker says it will improve your credit rating. He receives a commission, but the customer has no guarantee that he will get a loan. Only residual debt insurance can be useful, depending on the case. But keep in mind that your costs are added to the interest rate. Calculate how much the APR will be when you add the cost of insurance to the cost of the loan.
- In the case of a financial reorganization or debt settlement, the company promises to "get a grip" on your finances so that you only pay to one place. In doing so, you will not receive a loan, as opposed to a debt restructuring. credit fraudsters often just overview their creditors and/or forward their money to them. For this "service" they collect a disproportionately high fee.
- Other companies offer debtor counseling for a fee. You will also not receive a credit, but the services can be useful. make sure that the company has the permission to offer legal services, or if it has to use an external lawyer. In the latter case you have to pay both.
- as a general rule, do not sign anything without reading and understanding all the small print. If in doubt, have a third party read through the documents.
More on the topic
- Credit for the unemployed: serious options at a glance
- Loans for trainees: how do trainees find cheap loans??
- Credit card without schufa: the right solution for people with a weak credit rating
- Have the Schufa entry deleted
- Beware, loan shark! Recognize and avoid dubious credit offers
- Credit and loans: is there a difference??
- Credit during the probationary period: possibilities
- credit agencies
- Rescheduling a loan: sensible or not?
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