The credit agency Schufa has shortened the storage period for entries on completed private bankruptcies.
around 250,000 consumers benefit from this.
Wiesbaden – The credit agency Schufa recently reduced the storage period for entries on completed private bankruptcies from three years to six months.
This was reported, among other things,
by spiegel.de.
Schufa has now implemented this change – and according to its own statements, deleted the entries of around 250,000 consumers who have gone through personal bankruptcy.
"For most of the 250,000 consumers, the shortening of the storage period improves their creditworthiness," said Schufa board member Ole Schröder.
A good credit rating plays an important role in the conclusion of rental agreements, among other things.
Consumer bankruptcy allows private individuals to free themselves from their debts, even if they cannot repay everything.
At the end there is the so-called residual debt exemption.
Information about this will be published on an official internet portal for six months.
Schufa: So far three years of storage
The Schufa and other credit bureaus store the data for three years.
There are repeated arguments before the courts as to whether this is still permissible, because a new data protection law has been in force in the European Union since May 2018.
The Schufa had therefore announced that it would shorten the storage period and implement this by the end of April - although the decision before the Federal Court of Justice was adjourned.
One wanted to create clarity and security for consumers, it was said in the justification.
In the future, the information on a residual debt exemption will be automatically deleted after six months, according to the Schufa.
Only new debts that were not waived by the residual debt exemption remained.
EU lawyer sees German practice as difficult
In addition to the Federal Court of Justice, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is currently dealing with the question of the storage period.
The BGH would like to wait for clarification from the ECJ.
In mid-March, the responsible General Advocate of the ECJ was very critical of the previous practice in two Schufa cases from Germany: The discharge of residual debt should enable those affected to participate in economic life again - but this is thwarted by the long storage.
The ECJ judges often agree with the Advocate General's assessment.
(df
with material from AFP and dpa
)
