Overview
- The Federal Court of Justice set aside four Dresden rulings and returned the cases for rehearing after finding the regional court had not tested whether the plaintiffs were significantly affected by the old Schufa score.
- The BGH clarified that a consumer need only show that Schufa transmitted a score and that an adverse decision followed to create a presumption the score was decisive while the ultimate burden to prove significant effect stays with the claimant.
- The decision was handed down on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, and applies to disputes about Schufa's legacy scoring models rather than the new consumer-facing score introduced in March 2026.
- Practical consequences are limited going forward because a November 20, 2026 amendment to the Federal Data Protection Act will require bureaus to disclose all scores and key influencing criteria for the prior 12 months and Schufa plans to phase out the old models by the end of 2028.
- Schufa welcomed the ruling and pointed to its March 17, 2026 rollout of a new score that lists twelve named criteria and a public portal for consumers as steps that reduce the role of litigation over the old 'black box' models.