Necessary Documents

When you wish to rent a property in Germany, you will need to present certain documents to the landlord. The landlord is entitled to ask to see the prospective tenant's passport to check their identity before the contract is signed. The landlord is legally allowed to request proof of the tenant's income, to ensure that the tenant has sufficient funds to pay the rent. It is important that the tenant is honest with the landlord and presents genuine documents. Should you be found to have lied to your landlord, you will typically face problems: in theory, the landlord can even ask you to vacate the property.

In order to prevent financial losses, housing associations (who manage more than one hundred homes) are allowed to check a potential tenant's credit history. In Germany your credit rating will usually be obtained from Schufa, the organisation which gathers information about the credit history and outstanding debts of anyone registered in Germany. Private landlords are only able to see a prospective tenant's credit history if the tenant agrees and requests a report from Schufa. However, a tenant who is unwilling for the landlord to see their credit history and refuses to obtain a report may appear to have something to hide: they may find that their application to rent a property is refused.