Bad news: Lease application rejected – reasons and solutions

It could all have been perfect: You've found your dream car, and you can still lease it. But then the shock – leasing application rejected. Why it came to the rejection and what you can do now, you can find out from us.

⏰ Summary

• The Schufa problem
• Long-term creditworthiness plays a major role
• Commercial leasing can also be rejected
• Don't give up
• Offers without SCHUFA often dubious

If you are looking for a new car, then we have the current top leasing offers for you here:

Top Leasing Offers

Model	Offers from
Seat Leon	107 € / month	Compare leasing offers
Opel Mokka	119 € / month	Compare leasing offers
Fiat 600 Hybrid	121 € / month	Compare leasing offers
Skoda Karoq Sportline	198 € / month	Compare leasing offers
VW T-Roc	149€ / month	Compare leasing offers

 

Bad surprise: When is a leasing application rejected?

If you want to be relatively flexible and don't want to spend a large amount of money at once, you are increasingly opting for private leasing. If you want to have as many options as possible, you can also choose Vario leasing. Finding the right car is not easy. When you have it, the anticipation is great – it is all the worse when the lease is rejected. It seems that some leasing requirements have not been met.

The most common reason is negative Schufa entry

The vast majority of rejections are due to a negative Schufa entry. The lessor will always obtain credit bureau information before the contract is concluded. The so-called Schufa Score then provides information about how likely it is that you will be able to pay your monthly leasing installments.

Once you've been behind with installments, it may have led to a negative entry. It doesn't matter whether it was the monthly mobile phone bill or a former car financing.

Future financial situation unclear?

In addition to the credit bureau information, the creditworthiness of the future lessee is also checked. If it is foreseeable that you will no longer be able to meet your payment obligations during the lease period, your application will most likely also be rejected.

For example, in most cases, a fixed-term employment contract is not sufficient to certify a positive prospect of future solvency. The same applies if the contract is indefinite, but you are still in the probationary period. The risk that you will terminate or be terminated at short notice is usually too high for a lessor. If you need to find a solution for a transitional period, for example between two jobs, long-term rental can also be an option. Leasing for students and trainees is also difficult, but not impossible.

The monthly fixed costs are also examined. Do you finance a house, do you still have debts with the furniture store or are there other burdens that tear a big hole in your finances every month? The lessor will look at such fixed costs and decide whether the leasing rate is still financially feasible for you. Because if it is not, at some point the installment will fail to materialize, which of course wants to be avoided.

But income itself is also a factor, even if you don't have to pay off any loans otherwise. After all, there must still be enough money left over to live. Especially if you want to lease an expensive car – for example in convertible, automatic or sports car leasing – your finances are very important.

Reasons on the part of the lessor are also possible

But it may also be that the reasons for rejection were not caused by you. Sometimes there is more going on in the background than you see on the surface. Perhaps the lessor is facing imminent insolvency, or it cannot accept the lease application due to supply bottlenecks – such as those currently caused by order freezes and the Ukraine war.

In most cases, however, it is the lessee's fault, i.e. you, that the lease was rejected. But that's also positive: You can change something about it yourself.

Consider the legal form of commercial leasing

However, the fact that a leasing application is rejected can also happen to tradespeople. Especially those who apply for leasing as a start-up could get into trouble. The reason: The company is still young, and therefore the risk of insolvency is still too great. The financial situation cannot yet be realistically assessed. In general, leasing costs for commercial leasing are lower than for private leasing.

Then, of course, it is also a matter of how the creditworthiness behaves. Here, too, you can obtain appropriate information as a lessor. In the case of commercial leasing, an insufficient creditworthiness is the most common reason for rejection of the leasing application.

What also happens, but rather rarely, is that some lessors exclude certain legal forms from leasing. For example, a UG has more problems getting a leasing contract than a GmbH. If your company is not yet leaseable, a long-term rental of up to 6 months could perhaps be an option.

Solutions: What to do if your lease application has been rejected

After the first shock has been digested, it is time to look for solutions. A rejected leasing application is not the end of the world, because there are ways to get a lease after all.

Double check at Schufa

If it was due to a negative Schufa, you should get some information yourself - because it is not so rare that old entries have not yet been deleted. Once a year, a self-disclosure at Schufa is free of charge. If you see incorrect entries, you should request deletion as soon as possible. As soon as this has been noted, your Schufa score will improve significantly, and you can make a new leasing request.

Looking for alternatives

However, if the leasing contract was rightly rejected due to negative credit bureau entries, then you have to look for alternatives. You have the following options:

• If there is a lack of creditworthiness, a guarantee can be considered
• Search for cheaper leasing offers
• Make a down payment to reduce the monthly burden
• Reduce monthly household costs where possible
• Consider Used Car Leasing

A family member may be willing to act as a guarantor for you. This additional security is often sufficient to get the leasing application approved. You may also be able to borrow a little money and make a down payment, which will reduce the monthly payment. This, in turn, has a positive effect on the creditworthiness and helps to obtain approval more easily.

What certainly doesn't hurt is to take a look at your expenses. Do you have more than one current mobile phone contract? What about membership in a sports club, or with subscriptions – do you use the services, or are these costs that you could save? You'll be amazed at how much you can save each month by eliminating unnecessary expenses.

Maybe a car subscription is a possibility instead of leasing. Check the modalities here, it could be worth it.

 

Leasing without SCHUFA – better not!

Leasing contracts that do not require a credit check or credit bureau information are often advertised. Caution is advised here, because it is not uncommon for these to be dubious companies. If you are considering such an offer, check it thoroughly and preferably from an outsider. If you have only minor doubts, you should keep your hands off it.