Schufa to Shorten Retention Period for Negative Credit Entries

Starting January 2025, negative entries will be deleted after 18 months instead of 36, benefiting tens of thousands of consumers.

Schufa will reduce the retention period for negative credit entries from 36 months to 18 months starting January 1, 2025.
To qualify for the shorter retention period, consumers must settle unpaid bills within 100 days of receiving a formal warning reported to Schufa.
The change is expected to benefit approximately 120,000 individuals, including 60,000 with existing eligible entries set to be deleted.
The revised policy aims to help consumers improve their creditworthiness more quickly while enabling businesses to recover debts faster.
Schufa's credit scoring process continues to face criticism for its lack of transparency, though consumers can access their scores via free reports or the Bonify app.