If you have successfully completed the personal bankruptcy procedure, the bankruptcy court can grant you discharge of the remaining debt. From this point on, you no longer have to repay anything and you no longer have to transfer your attachable income to the trustee. However, that does not mean that you are immediately creditworthy again. The remaining debt discharge note is stored by Schufa Holding AG (Schufa for short). So far, this note about the discharge of residual debt could only be deleted after 3 years. Now, according to the OLG ruling of July 2nd, 2021, this is already possible after 6 months. However, this judgment can be disadvantageous not only for the person concerned, but also, for example, for the lender.
How does the note of the discharge of residual debt come from the Schufa?
Schufa stores all data that is important for assessing the creditworthiness of a customer. There are positive entries, neutral entries and negative entries. In the course of your life you will conclude contracts where your Schufa will be queried. If you cannot repay a loan, you will receive dunning notices and enforcement notices or you will have to submit the affidavit. This often quickly leads to negative Schufa entries. It is particularly serious when you have to apply for personal bankruptcy. Then no reputable bank will grant you a loan. If you are released from the remaining debts at the end of the conduct of business phase, Schufa will receive a corresponding notification and your data will be provided with a residual debt discharge note. So anyone who has a legitimate interest in your Schufa information can see that you have just completed insolvency proceedings. Many banks or other lenders will react very cautiously to this. A residual debt discharge note shows the bank that you have not been able to repay your debts on your own in the past using your own resources. It is not uncommon to conclude from this that you will not be able or willing to do so in the future either. This was previously stored in the Schufa for 3 years.
What does the OLG judgment of July 2nd, 2021 with reference number 17 U 15/21 say?
As part of this OLG ruling, Schufa is sentenced to delete a residual debt discharge note not only after 3 years – as before – but after 6 months.1 This means that after this period the customer can apply for a loan from the bank again. Although the borrower will probably still not have a good Schufa score, this is not an automatic reason for rejection. If you have a regular income, you can also get a loan with negative Schufa.
Borrowing after the deletion of the residual debt discharge note
Think very carefully whether you want to take out a loan again so soon after the remaining debt has been discharged. You should always be aware that you could not pay off your old debts yourself, but had to file for bankruptcy. If the residual debt discharge note at the Schufa has been deleted, the banks can no longer recognize this. Unfortunately, there is a risk that you will quickly find yourself in financial difficulties again if you cannot or do not want to repay the loan installments properly. You should absolutely avoid that.
However, there are also advantages from which people in particular benefit who have had to file for bankruptcy through no fault of their own or due to unfavorable circumstances. After only 6 months and not only after 3 years, you have the chance to finally leave the past behind and start over financially. This also includes the opportunity to deal responsibly with new financial obligations and to regularly ensure that the monthly loan installments are paid in full and on time.
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