Do these first

• Check your own credit records. You can see them free of charge once every 12 months in Asiakastieto's Omatieto service and Dun & Bradstreet's OmaData service. Check both, because the registers are separate. You will see which debt caused the entry and when it expires.
• If you can pay the debt, pay it. The entry for a paid debt is removed in about a month, once the payment information has reached the credit reference agencies. Detailed instructions are in section 4 of the enforcement guide.
• Looking for a flat? If you receive social assistance, apply for Kela's rent deposit before you sign the lease. You cannot get it afterwards.
• Do not take on new debt to pay old debt. First call the free Debt Line (Velkalinja) on 0800 9 8009, Mon–Thu 10–14.

Renting a flat with a payment default

A landlord may check your credit records and reject your application because of the entry. Private landlords and letting agents often do. Your best chances are with rental housing companies owned by municipalities and with other non-profit landlords.

State-subsidised ARA housing

Much of the housing owned by municipal rental companies is state-subsidised ARA housing. Tenant selection there is guided by Varke, formerly ARA. According to Varke's guidance (in Finnish), payment default entries are not in principle an obstacle to getting a home. A home may be refused only if the risk that rent will not be paid is real. When assessing that, the landlord should consider things such as a rent deposit or payment commitment, a fixed-term lease to begin with, and housing allowance or social assistance being paid straight to the landlord.

• Old rent debts do not stop you from getting a home if you have a payment plan made with a reliable party, such as financial and debt counselling or the enforcement authority, and receipts for the instalments you have paid.
• A debt to the same landlord usually has to be paid before that landlord offers you a new home. You can apply to your wellbeing services county for preventive social assistance to pay old rent debts.
• If your application is rejected because of the entry, ask for the reasons in writing and refer to Varke's guidance.

City rental housing companies

The information was checked on the companies' own websites in November 2026. Applications are made online. The websites are mainly in Finnish.

Nationwide

How to improve your chances

• Mention the entry yourself, and explain what caused it and what you have done about the debt: a payment plan with the enforcement authority, debt counselling or debt restructuring. Being open works better than the landlord finding the entry.
• Offer to have the rent paid directly. You can authorise Kela to pay your housing allowance straight to the landlord. If Kela has granted you a rent deposit as social assistance, it always pays the rent part of your social assistance straight to the landlord.
• Offer security. Kela's payment commitment can serve as the deposit if you receive social assistance. Otherwise you can offer a larger deposit than usual or a guarantor.
• Show your income and rental history. A decision on your income, for example from Kela or an unemployment fund, and a reference from a previous landlord show that the rent will be paid.

If you are at risk of homelessness, contact the housing advice service in your municipality or the social work services of your wellbeing services county straight away. Housing advice and urgent help are covered in the eviction threat guide, and the social emergency numbers for each county are at the end of the child welfare guide.

Kela's rent deposit

If you receive social assistance and there is an acceptable reason for the move, Kela can give a payment commitment for the rent deposit. The landlord can rely on it in the same way as a deposit paid in cash. When the tenancy ends, the landlord can claim compensation from Kela, for example for unpaid rent and damage.

• Apply before you sign the lease. If you have already paid the deposit yourself, you cannot get social assistance for it afterwards.
• Attach a preliminary lease or a flat offer that shows the flat, the landlord, the rent and the amount of the deposit.
• Apply in OmaKela. If you already have a social assistance decision, report the move under Report changes. Otherwise apply for social assistance and include the deposit request in the same application. The paper form is TO 2.
• Amount: usually two months' rent; for a justified reason, such as a risk of homelessness, three months' rent.
• Acceptable reasons for moving include separation, health reasons, a change in family size, homelessness or the risk of it, a job or study place in another town, and moving to a cheaper home at the request of Kela or the wellbeing services county.
• The rent must be reasonable in your municipality. No deposit is granted for a move to a more expensive home or just for comfort.
• The deposit is tied to the flat. If you move to another flat, you apply for a new deposit.

For the costs of an acceptable move you can also get a moving allowance of 120 or 180 euros, depending on the distance and the size of your family. More information is on Kela's social assistance pages and from Kela's English-language service on 020 634 2550, weekdays 9–16.

Bank account and payment card

Everyone legally resident in Finland or elsewhere in the EEA has the right to basic banking services: a payment account with basic features, a payment card and online banking credentials. Under the Credit Institutions Act, a bank may refuse to open such an account only for reasons related to preventing money laundering and certain international sanctions. A payment default is not a reason.

• Ask in writing for a payment account with basic features (perusmaksutili), using exactly those words. The entry can prevent credit cards and card features with credit, but a plain debit card is part of the basic services.
• If the bank refuses, ask for the reasons in writing. Without them you cannot dispute the decision.
• Contact FINE, the Finnish Financial Ombudsman Bureau. It gives free advice and can take the case to the Banking Complaints Board. Phone 09 6850 120 Mon–Thu 10–15, normal call charges apply. Online: fine.fi.

The right applies to consumer accounts. If you set up a business, whether you get a business account is up to the bank.

Electricity contract

Other electricity retailers can refuse a contract because of the entry, but the retailer with a supply obligation in your area must make a contract with you. That is the retailer with the largest market position in your distribution network company's area. It usually belongs to the same group as the local network company, whose name is on your electricity transmission bill. Ask the retailer directly whether it has the supply obligation in your area.

• Security or advance payment. The retailer can require a reasonable security or advance payment from a consumer when the contract is made. Under the electricity sales terms, the security can be at most the size of the electricity bill for the period from the start of the billing period to a possible disconnection.
• The security is returned. If you pay your bills on time, a consumer's security is returned no later than one year after it was given, and when the contract ends as soon as the final bill has been paid.
• Kela can provide the security. If you receive social assistance, Kela can grant the security as a payment commitment. It can be at most the size of five months' electricity use. Ask the electricity company for a written demand showing the amount, duration and address, and attach it to your application.

The rules on electricity disconnection are in the enforcement FAQ.

Phone and internet

A telecom operator may require an advance payment or security only for a specific reason. A payment default can be such a reason, but according to a position paper of the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority, now Traficom, a single entry is not automatically enough; your ability to pay has to be assessed as a whole.

• Ask for the reason. The company must tell you why it requires security.
• Reasonable amount. According to the position paper, a security of about 300 euros for a mobile subscription is generally not considered unreasonable. For mobile broadband it should be clearly smaller.
• The security is returned when the reason for it ends. About a year of monitoring is considered reasonable.
• You can always get a prepaid subscription without a credit check.
• You usually cannot buy a phone in instalments. Buy the device with cash or second-hand, for example on HimaKirppis.

Source: Traficom's position paper on advance payments and security (in Finnish).

Insurance, purchases and work

• Loans, instalment plans, credit cards and "pay later" services usually do not work while the entry is in place. That is also a protection: no new debt builds up.
• Insurance: the entry can make voluntary insurance harder to get. Home insurance matters most, because it protects you from damage you would otherwise have to pay for yourself. If you receive social assistance, the home insurance premium can be accepted as an expense. In 2026 the maximum for a one-room flat is 132 euros a year. FINE gives free advice on insurance.
• Work: an employer may check your credit records only for certain jobs that require particular trustworthiness, and you must be told in advance. More in the enforcement FAQ.
• Self-employment: the entry does not stop you from setting up a business, but getting financing, a business account and instalment plans can be difficult. See the entrepreneur's guide.

Offers to avoid

• "Loans despite payment defaults". By law a lender must assess the applicant's ability to pay. If a loan is promised without that check, it is usually expensive or comes with costs that are not mentioned at first. See also the section on illegal interest rates in the enforcement guide.
• Paid "credit record repair" services. A genuine entry cannot be removed for a fee. It goes when the debt is paid or the storage period ends. You can ask the credit reference agency to correct a wrong entry yourself, free of charge.
• Flat adverts that ask for money up front, for example homes promised "for people with payment defaults" where a deposit or fee must be paid before you have seen the flat. Pay nothing before you have seen the flat and received a written lease. Also check that the landlord really owns the flat or acts for the owner.
• Paying debt with new debt. If you want to combine debts, first ask about social credit or the Guarantee Foundation's (Takuusäätiö) consolidation loan. Both are described on the Money when times are tight page.

Getting the entry removed

• An entry reported by a creditor stays for two years. An entry based on a court judgment or enforcement stays for at most three years. A new entry does not extend the storage period of old ones.
• A paid debt removes the entry in about a month, once the payment information has reached both credit registers. Check this yourself.
• A debt restructuring entry stays for the duration of the payment programme.

Step-by-step instructions for reporting the payment are in section 4 of the enforcement guide. A ready-made notification template is in the letter templates.

Free help

Ready-made letter templates for the bank, landlord, electricity and phone company, insurer and credit reference agencies are in the letter templates under With a payment default.