I'm a simple emigrant and I'll move into a new apartment soon

In previous posts (one and two) I wrote about the initial stages of searching for housing, and now I'll tell you how the process goes from here. If, among a sea of rejections, someone finally invites you to a viewing, don't rush to rejoice. Most likely, when you arrive, there will be either a 15-minute window for the viewing, because others will come after, or there will already be a crowd of other interested people. In the most 'German' cases you will meet a strictly formed queue of people who act strictly by the plan: in such a queue even grandmothers at the MFC have to wait patiently. The landlord at this stage is rarely met; mostly agents or current tenants. Next, so that the landlord also knows what a wonderful person you are, and can choose who will live in his halls, you need to send a self-description, a German ID, a salary certificate for the last three months, and a Schufa. This is the strangest document! An example is shown in the picture. Schufa is something like a credit history, only it contains broader information about how "reliable" you are. The strangest thing is that it is a commercial company, which for reasons unknown to me has access to a huge pile of personal data related to bank accounts, debts, loans, and even accounts at online stores. Schufa can be requested for free once a year; at other times it costs 30 euros. Moreover, they also try to pressure you, saying that in the free Schufa there is too much personal information, better order the paid one, we'll blur everything there. In general, in a country where privacy laws are enforced, there exists such a private Schufa that you need to provide in many places. Worse is the obligation to have the tenants' surnames on the building's intercom if you want your mail to find you. And what strange documents have you been asked for to move into an apartment? #useful