KARLSRUHE (dpa-AFX) – How long can Schufa store information about payment problems that have already been resolved? The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe is currently dealing with this question. On Thursday, the court heard a man’s lawsuit against the credit agency. Schufa had stored claims against him for several years after they had been paid off. He sees this as a violation of the General Data Protection Regulation.
Whether and for how long credit agencies are allowed to store data about claims that have already been settled is not clearly regulated by law. However, the credit reporting agencies in Germany have imposed their own set of rules, which have been approved by the Hessian data protection officer. It generally provides for a storage period of three years for settled payment disruptions. In certain cases, storage ends after just 18 months.
When does the data have to be deleted?
The BGH is concerned with the question of whether Schufa can continue to store this data once the claims have been settled. The Cologne Higher Regional Court (OLG) had previously denied this and therefore ordered Schufa to pay compensation. Credit agencies would therefore have to delete information about payment problems as soon as the overdue debts have been paid. Schufa went into appeal, so the case ended up in Karlsruhe.
The oral hearing there was, among other things, about whether the storage periods for the official list of debtors – as assumed by the Cologne Higher Regional Court – could also be applied to the data affected here. Entries must then be deleted immediately if “full satisfaction of the creditor has been proven”.
Plaintiff: “massive” consequences for those affected
Schufa criticizes the fact that in the future the credit report will no longer contain any information about whether a person has ever had payment problems. Even after paying open and long-overdue debts, people are at least 10 times more likely to get into payment difficulties again
– compared to people who meet their payment obligations
would comply reliably. Companies would no longer be able to accurately assess the risk of payment defaults without the data.
The plaintiffs emphasized in court the “massive” economic impact that negative Schufa entries can have for those affected. The score often decides whether you get an apartment, a car or an employment contract. They also criticized what they saw as the arbitrary setting of the deadlines. It initially remained unclear when the BGH would make a judgment./jml/DP/jha