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> Holy moly the US is kafkaesque. Not really. Try to rent an apartment in Germany (any EU country really). Canada / USA is a breeze in comparison.

by betaby 1y ago

FrancisMoodie 1y ago
What? They don't check your credit score where I live (west-eu). They check your pay slip to see how much you make monthly and if it your rent is less than half your paycheck they can decide to let you rent. After that is a two or three month downpayment that is locked in a seperate bank account specifically for this use and is released at the end of the lease. If there is no damage to the rental unit you get back your full amount, depending on what damage is found, the downpayment is used to fix that.
- mrweasel 1y ago
  What? They are in no way entitled to see your pay slip, or know how much you make. Whether or not you can pay rent is entirely your problem (North EU). You have a deposit, typically three months rent, that's typically enough to indicate whether or not you're able to pay rent.
  - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
    >They are in no way entitled to see your pay slip They absolutely do in Germany and Austria. Renting is almost impossible without pay slips from LOCAL employers. Pay slips from your previous EU country don't count. So relocating is a huge bitch. >Whether or not you can pay rent is entirely your problem (North EU). It immediately becomes the landlord's problem here when they're legally not allowed to evict you once you stop paying rent. So they're trying to be 110% sure you're the ideal tenant who always pays on time. Especially since for many private landlords the rent you pay them is also their mortgage payment to the bank. >You have a deposit, typically three months rent, that's typically enough to indicate whether or not you're able to pay rent. Deposits don't mean you're able to keep paying rent since that deposit might be borrowed money or from illicit activities. Landlords want to see stable employment (well known employer, that you're past probation period, etc), not that you have a lot of random money in your pocket when you sign the contract. I don't support this status quo, but it is what it is because it's a sellers' market and governments don't want to change that.
  - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
    >Whether or not you can pay rent is entirely your problem (North EU). This doesn't sound right. In which "North EU" country sis this BTW?
    - mrweasel 1y ago
      Denmark. To be fair I haven't rented an apartment in 15 years. My understanding is that the rule still are: If you don't pay, you get a 14 day warning, if you don't pay within those 14 days, your lease can be terminated the next day. Assuming that you then refuse to move, the landlord can have the bailiff (not sure if that's the right word) kick you out.
- account42 1y ago
  They absolutely do ask for a SCHUFA report in Germany. You might eventually find an apartment without one but it's going to limit your options.
- mr_toad 1y ago
  In the UK they’ll do background checks, and check your salary. They’d ask for six months rent in advance if it wasn’t illegal. And even though it is illegal.
  - jlokier 1y ago
    In my experience, in the UK, the rental agency required 12 months rent in advance (plus another 2 months rent as deposit) when I was self-employed. They would have accepted monthly rent if I had 5x the annual rent in cash savings, but I didn't. And then every year after that they required another 12 months rent up front, when it came to the annual tenancy renewal. Track record of paying the rent wasn't good enough to prove that I could keep paying the rent.
    - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
      That's crazy
wink 1y ago
> Not really. Try to rent an apartment in Germany (any EU country really). Been a while for me but afaik nothing has changed: if you lived and worked here before, then a couple of your last salary statements are sufficient (bar the problem of actually finding anything and being accepted, but that is besides the point). So I am definitely not loving or defending this, but afaik compared to needing years of time to build your credit score in a "smart" way (and by hearsay I would probably mess it up, "just be employed for 3 months" sounds very easy to do?
- account42 1y ago
  > bar the problem of actually finding anything and being accepted, but that is besides the point It isn't besides the point at all. It being a seller's market means landlords can and do ask for whatever paperwork they want which often enough includes a SCHUFA report. You can choose to not provide it but they can also choose to rent to someone else who does.
barrkel 1y ago
What is more common in many European countries is a check of a national debt register, to see if you're a known bad debtor. This is distinct from a credit check, because it's not something you need to build up; just something you need to avoid. Someone fresh into the country won't have a problem here. I moved to Switzerland and all I needed was a clean debt register entry and my employer contract.
mbroncano 1y ago
That’s blatantly not true, before or recently. As it is obvious you never relocated to Europe, at least provide a reference to refute.
integralid 1y ago
Not sure in Germany, but my country borders it and I rented an apartment several times with no credit history. It also never took more than a few hours to sort everything out (make an appointment, decide if I like the place, exchange my personal info, make a second apointment to sign a contract). No credit score in sight.

> Holy moly the US is kafkaesque. Not really. Try to rent an apartment in Germany (any EU country really). Canada / USA is a breeze in comparison.

by betaby 1y ago

> Holy moly the US is kafkaesque. Not really. Try to rent an apartment in Germany (any EU country really). Canada / USA is a breeze in comparison.

FrancisMoodie 1y ago

What? They don't check your credit score where I live (west-eu). They check your pay slip to see how much you make monthly and if it your rent is less than half your paycheck they can decide to let you rent. After that is a two or three month downpayment that is locked in a seperate bank account specifically for this use and is released at the end of the lease. If there is no damage to the rental unit you get back your full amount, depending on what damage is found, the downpayment is used to fix that.

mrweasel 1y ago
What? They are in no way entitled to see your pay slip, or know how much you make. Whether or not you can pay rent is entirely your problem (North EU). You have a deposit, typically three months rent, that's typically enough to indicate whether or not you're able to pay rent.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  >They are in no way entitled to see your pay slip They absolutely do in Germany and Austria. Renting is almost impossible without pay slips from LOCAL employers. Pay slips from your previous EU country don't count. So relocating is a huge bitch. >Whether or not you can pay rent is entirely your problem (North EU). It immediately becomes the landlord's problem here when they're legally not allowed to evict you once you stop paying rent. So they're trying to be 110% sure you're the ideal tenant who always pays on time. Especially since for many private landlords the rent you pay them is also their mortgage payment to the bank. >You have a deposit, typically three months rent, that's typically enough to indicate whether or not you're able to pay rent. Deposits don't mean you're able to keep paying rent since that deposit might be borrowed money or from illicit activities. Landlords want to see stable employment (well known employer, that you're past probation period, etc), not that you have a lot of random money in your pocket when you sign the contract. I don't support this status quo, but it is what it is because it's a sellers' market and governments don't want to change that.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  >Whether or not you can pay rent is entirely your problem (North EU). This doesn't sound right. In which "North EU" country sis this BTW?
  - mrweasel 1y ago
    Denmark. To be fair I haven't rented an apartment in 15 years. My understanding is that the rule still are: If you don't pay, you get a 14 day warning, if you don't pay within those 14 days, your lease can be terminated the next day. Assuming that you then refuse to move, the landlord can have the bailiff (not sure if that's the right word) kick you out.
account42 1y ago
They absolutely do ask for a SCHUFA report in Germany. You might eventually find an apartment without one but it's going to limit your options.
mr_toad 1y ago
In the UK they’ll do background checks, and check your salary. They’d ask for six months rent in advance if it wasn’t illegal. And even though it is illegal.
- jlokier 1y ago
  In my experience, in the UK, the rental agency required 12 months rent in advance (plus another 2 months rent as deposit) when I was self-employed. They would have accepted monthly rent if I had 5x the annual rent in cash savings, but I didn't. And then every year after that they required another 12 months rent up front, when it came to the annual tenancy renewal. Track record of paying the rent wasn't good enough to prove that I could keep paying the rent.
  - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
    That's crazy

wink 1y ago

> Not really. Try to rent an apartment in Germany (any EU country really). Been a while for me but afaik nothing has changed: if you lived and worked here before, then a couple of your last salary statements are sufficient (bar the problem of actually finding anything and being accepted, but that is besides the point). So I am definitely not loving or defending this, but afaik compared to needing years of time to build your credit score in a "smart" way (and by hearsay I would probably mess it up, "just be employed for 3 months" sounds very easy to do?

account42 1y ago
> bar the problem of actually finding anything and being accepted, but that is besides the point It isn't besides the point at all. It being a seller's market means landlords can and do ask for whatever paperwork they want which often enough includes a SCHUFA report. You can choose to not provide it but they can also choose to rent to someone else who does.

barrkel 1y ago

What is more common in many European countries is a check of a national debt register, to see if you're a known bad debtor. This is distinct from a credit check, because it's not something you need to build up; just something you need to avoid. Someone fresh into the country won't have a problem here. I moved to Switzerland and all I needed was a clean debt register entry and my employer contract.

mbroncano 1y ago

That’s blatantly not true, before or recently. As it is obvious you never relocated to Europe, at least provide a reference to refute.

integralid 1y ago

Not sure in Germany, but my country borders it and I rented an apartment several times with no credit history. It also never took more than a few hours to sort everything out (make an appointment, decide if I like the place, exchange my personal info, make a second apointment to sign a contract). No credit score in sight.