Relocation & Settling In
An apartment in Berlin without a Schufa.
You have no German credit record yet. We build the substitute a Berlin landlord accepts instead.
The blocker
The document you can't get, and why landlords ask for it.
Almost every Berlin listing asks for a SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft, the one-page report showing no debts or defaults on record in Germany. Agents look for it first.
A Schufa exists only once you hold a German bank account and an address here, so a new arrival has nothing on file at all. With dozens of applicants for one flat, an agent filters on the empty field and moves to the next envelope.
The engagement
How the substitute file is assembled.
This work sits inside our managed apartment search, which sources the flats and negotiates the lease around it.
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The audit
We list what you can evidence today: savings, an employment contract or offer letter, a home-country credit record, and whether a guarantor is realistic. Most people hold more than they think they do.
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The substitute file
From that we build the stand-in: proof of funds, the employer letter, a translated credit report, a Bürgschaft, or a larger Kaution or Mietkautionsversicherung. Enough weight to settle the question the Schufa was asked.
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The presentation
The file goes out in the order a German landlord reads: cover note, income and funds, references, identity, translated where translation helps. It answers the credit question before an agent thinks to ask it.
What you get
The four substitutes, and which one fits your case.
Each of these also sits inside a full relocation, if the paperwork and the move are coming too.
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Proof of funds
Savings and liquidity set out in the format a landlord trusts: ordered, dated and totalled.
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Employment contract or offer letter
Your German or international employment shown plainly, including an offer that pre-dates your first payslip.
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A translated credit report
Where a home-country credit record exists, we obtain it & translate it to stand where the Schufa would.
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Bürgschaft or deposit structure
A guarantor's Bürgschaft drafted correctly, a larger Kaution, or a Mietkautionsversicherung that leaves your capital free.
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What it costs
A fixed fee, agreed before we start. Third-party costs billed at cost, never a percentage of your rent.
Why us
Why a complete file gets read to the end.
Landlords read our applications because they arrive complete and our clients make easy tenants. That reputation took years, and we protect it on every file.
So the missing Schufa stops being the first thing an agent sees. The file opens on what you can evidence, in German, in the order the office expects, & the credit question is answered three pages in rather than left blank on page one.
Questions
What people ask before they begin.
What does it cost?
A fixed fee, agreed before we start, and never a percentage of your rent. Third-party costs are billed at what they cost: certified translations, a home-country credit report, the premium on a Mietkautionsversicherung. Tell us where you stand financially and we'll quote, and we'll say so plainly if we think the case is unwinnable at your budget.
What exactly is a Schufa?
The SCHUFA is Germany's main credit bureau. The SCHUFA-BonitätsAuskunft is the one-page consumer report landlords ask for, showing no debts or defaults on record here. It exists only once you have a German financial footprint, so a new arrival has nothing on file at all, which agents tend to read as risk.
Can I rent with no Schufa at all?
Yes. A landlord needs to believe the rent will arrive on the first of the month, and the Schufa is one proxy for that among several. Funds, employment, a guarantor or a deposit structure answer the same question directly. Presented in the form a German office expects, they answer it better than a thin credit file would.
Will I have to pay a bigger deposit?
Sometimes, and it's often the cleanest route. German law caps the Kaution at three months' Kaltmiete, and offering the full three up front reassures a cautious landlord more than any letter. Where you'd rather not tie up the capital, a Mietkautionsversicherung stands in its place for an annual premium.
Do I need a German guarantor?
No. A guarantor with a properly drafted Bürgschaft can tip a marginal application, and it's one lever among several, never a requirement. Applicants are approved on proof of funds and an employment contract alone all the time. If you have someone willing, we structure it; if not, we build the case from what you do have.
I'm a freelancer or a student. Does this still work?
Yes, and both are routine. A freelancer shows recent invoices, an accountant's summary, business bank statements & savings in place of payslips. A student usually leans on a guarantor, a blocked account or proof of funds. The job is the same either way: turn your real financial standing into evidence a Berlin landlord reads as safe.
Which landlords are realistically open to this?
Private owners and smaller Hausverwaltungen weigh a file, because a person reads it and can be persuaded by what's in it. The largest corporate lettings run a checkbox process where a missing Schufa field ends the application before anyone sees the rest. We aim your file where the reading is done by a human.
Keep exploring
You may also need
Begin
Tell us where you stand without a Schufa.
Your work situation, your budget, and roughly what you can put down. We come back with an honest read on your chances and the substitutes worth building.