Rental application documents in Germany: checklist and your data rights

The DSK distinguishes three stages. Landlords may only collect what is necessary at each one.

1. Viewing

• Your name and contact details (postal address, phone number or email).
• The landlord may check your identity by looking at your ID. Making a copy at this stage is not necessary and therefore not permitted.
• For subsidised social housing: whether you have a housing entitlement certificate (WBS), and the size and number of rooms it allows.

2. After you say you want the flat

• How many people will move in, and whether they are adults or children.
• Your current employer and your job.
• Your monthly net income, or simply confirmation that it exceeds a stated amount.
• Whether you intend to keep pets (not small animals kept in cages or tanks).
• Whether insolvency proceedings have been opened against you and are still running.
• Whether an eviction order has been issued against you in the last five years.
• For social housing: a copy of your WBS.

3. After the landlord has chosen you, just before signing

• Proof of income, such as a payslip, bank statement or income tax assessment, with data that is not needed blacked out.
• Proof of creditworthiness: a credit certificate you obtained yourself for the purpose of renting.
• Limited questions about serious rent arrears or a termination for serious breach of your current or last tenancy, with the chance to explain why it will not happen again.

The DSK's model questionnaire also asks applicants not to send documents before they are needed. Keep your folder ready, but send each part when it is requested.

According to the DSK guidance, the following are not permitted. You do not have to answer such questions:

• your nationality, religion or ethnic origin
• your marital status (for example to make a spouse jointly liable)
• marriage plans, pregnancy or plans to have children
• membership of a political party or a tenants' association
• criminal records or ongoing criminal investigations
• how long you have been with your employer
• why you have other monthly payments, such as maintenance or loans
• the names and contact details of your current or previous landlords
• your income at all, if the rent will be paid in full directly by a public body
• a copy of your ID at the viewing stage
• your full credit data copy under Article 15 GDPR; it contains far more than a landlord needs
• your consent to a credit check as a condition for the contract

Landlords also have to delete the data of applicants who did not get the flat once it is no longer needed. Where discrimination claims are possible, this should generally happen within six months. Keeping "blacklists" of applicants is generally not allowed.

If a landlord insists on unlawful information, you can complain to a data protection supervisory authority; in Berlin, the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information accepts complaints through an online form. If you suspect discrimination, contact an anti-discrimination advice service; in Berlin that is Fair mieten – Fair wohnen.

Many landlords ask for a SCHUFA certificate. What they may request is a tenancy-specific credit certificate that you obtain yourself and that contains only the information needed for renting. Two products are often confused:

• The free data copy under Article 15 GDPR shows everything SCHUFA stores about you. It is for you, not for landlords, and a landlord may not demand it.
• The SCHUFA-BonitätsCheck is a certificate for third parties such as landlords. In 2026 it cost €29.95 as a one-off purchase, was delivered digitally and did not show your score to the landlord. It is also included in some paid SCHUFA subscriptions.

If you have only just arrived, SCHUFA may have little or no data on you. Say so openly and offer alternative evidence (below). See the SCHUFA guide for how to build a record.

Some landlords ask for a confirmation from your previous landlord that you owe no rent. Your previous landlord is not obliged to issue one, according to the Federal Court of Justice (judgment of 30 September 2009, VIII ZR 238/08). For that reason, the DSK says a new landlord cannot demand it.

If you have a good relationship with a previous landlord, in Germany or abroad, a short signed letter confirming that you always paid on time can still help. Bank statements showing regular rent payments, with other transactions blacked out, are an alternative.

Landlords mainly want reassurance that the rent will be paid. Offer what you have:

• Employment contract or signed job offer, even if you have not started yet, plus a short letter from your employer confirming your position if possible.
• Payslips from your previous job abroad, ideally with a short explanation or translation of the key figures.
• Proof of savings: a recent bank statement showing a balance, with account numbers partly and unrelated transactions blacked out.
• For students: admission letter, blocked account or scholarship confirmation, and if relevant a parent's guarantee.
• A rental reference from a previous landlord abroad.
• A guarantor (see below).
• A short cover note explaining that you have just moved to Germany and therefore have no German credit history yet.

A guarantee (Bürgschaft) means another person, often a parent or relative with a good income, promises to pay if you do not. Prepare a signed guarantee declaration and evidence that the guarantor can pay, such as their proof of income.

Limits apply: if a landlord demands a guarantee in addition to a cash deposit, the total security may not exceed three months' net cold rent. This limit does not apply if you offered the guarantee voluntarily. A guarantee is a serious financial commitment for the guarantor, so make sure they understand what they are signing.

• Prepare separate PDFs for each stage (contact and introduction; self-disclosure; proof of income and credit), so you send only what is needed.
• Black out data the landlord does not need, such as your tax ID, social security number, church tax details, and transactions unrelated to rent and income.
• Mark copies of ID documents clearly, for example "Copy for rental application, [landlord's name], [date]". For German ID cards the law requires copies to be clearly and permanently recognisable as copies.
• Use clear file names, such as "Surname_Proof_of_income.pdf".
• Send files by email to verified landlords or agents, or upload them on the portal of a known housing company. Never send documents to contacts you have not verified; see rental scams.