How to order a debt collection extract in Switzerland

You order a debt collection extract (Betreibungsregisterauszug) from the debt collection office (Betreibungsamt) for the place where you live. You can usually order it online, by post or at the counter, with a copy of your ID, and it costs CHF 17, or CHF 18 if it is sent to you. It shows the debt collection proceedings opened against you in that office’s district in the past 5 years.

What the extract is, and who asks for it

A Betreibung (debt collection) is the Swiss procedure for enforcing payment of a debt (SchKG, Art. 38). When a creditor files a request, the debt collection office issues a Zahlungsbefehl (payment order) to the debtor (SchKG, Art. 69). The debtor can object within 10 days of receiving it, with a Rechtsvorschlag (objection) (SchKG, Art. 74).

The office keeps a register of these proceedings (SchKG, Art. 8). The extract is a copy of what that register says about you. If there is nothing, it says so.

You are likely to need one when you rent a flat, take out a loan, buy a car on hire purchase or apply for Swiss citizenship (ch.ch). The Consumer Credit Act lets a lender ask for one before it lends (KKG, Art. 31).

Which office to ask

Each canton divides its territory into debt collection districts, and each district has its own office (SchKG, Art. 1 and 2). Debt collection takes place where the debtor lives (SchKG, Art. 46). So the office for your current address holds the proceedings opened while you lived there.

The extract covers that one district only. If you moved in the past 5 years, order an extract from each district you lived in to see the whole picture (ch.ch).

To find your office, use the office finder on EasyGov that ch.ch links to, or your canton’s website.

How to order yours

1. Find the office for your address. See above.
2. Choose how to order. ch.ch describes two ways: fill in the online form on EasyGov and send it to the office by post or email, or ask at the office counter. Several cantons and cities also run their own online service, with payment by card or TWINT, and some no longer serve extracts at the counter (see the table below).
3. Add a copy of your ID. ch.ch asks for a copy of an identity document. At a counter, bring the original.
4. Pay the fee. Online, you usually pay when you order. By post, you usually pay in advance to the office’s account; its website gives the details.
5. Receive the extract. Depending on the office, it comes by post, by email or as a download. Some offices send it the same working day; others take up to two working days (see the table).

To order an extract about someone else, you need their signed authorisation and a copy of their ID. Without their consent, you must show a particular interest, for example a written offer to rent them a flat or lend them money (ch.ch; SchKG, Art. 8a).

What it costs

The fee is set in a federal ordinance, the same in every canton (GebV SchKG, Art. 12a):

Other services cost extra. The City of Zurich, for example, charges CHF 9 for a spoken summary at the counter instead of a written extract.

How ordering differs by canton

The fee is federal, but each canton organises its own offices (SchKG, Art. 2), so the ways to order differ. Here is what six official pages said on 8 October 2026:

Check your own canton’s page before you order. Fees and channels can change.

Checklist

Your steps to order your extract

Choose where you live, and whether you moved in the past 5 years. The list shows your steps, from the official pages this guide cites.

Your steps

1. Find the debt collection office for your address with the office finder on EasyGov that ch.ch links to, or on your canton’s website.
2. Fill in the online form on EasyGov and send it to the office by post or email, or ask at the office counter (ch.ch).
3. Add a copy of an identity document (ch.ch). At a counter, bring the original.
4. Pay the fee, the same in every canton under a federal ordinance (GebV SchKG, Art. 12a). It is CHF 17 collected, CHF 18 sent by post, fax or electronically, and CHF 22 by registered post.
5. Receive the extract by post, by email or as a download, depending on the office.
6. If you moved in the past 5 years, order an extract from each district you lived in: each extract covers its own district only (ch.ch).

From the official pages as they read on 8 October 2026. Check your canton’s page before you order: fees and channels can change.

What the extract shows

• Debt collection proceedings of the past 5 years opened against you in that district (ch.ch). Proceedings the creditor withdrew, or that were cancelled, are not shown to others (SchKG, Art. 8a).
• Verlustscheine (certificates of loss). A certificate of loss records a debt that a seizure did not cover (SchKG, Art. 149). Geneva and Ticino list the number and total of open certificates from the past 20 years. Basel-Stadt lists all existing ones, and the City of Zurich shows them until they are deleted or time-barred.

A certificate of loss becomes time-barred 20 years after it was issued. You can pay it off at any time at the office that issued it, and the entry is then deleted from the register (SchKG, Art. 149a).

Getting an entry off your extract

An entry is deleted automatically 5 years after the proceedings end (ch.ch). Before that, there are four routes:

• The creditor withdraws the proceedings. If you paid or reached an agreement, ask the creditor to withdraw. The office then no longer shows the proceedings to others (SchKG, Art. 8a). Paying alone does not remove the entry: Basel-Stadt states that the creditor is not obliged to withdraw, even after payment.
• The entry is wrong. The office corrects incorrect entries on its own or at your request (SchKG, Art. 8).
• You objected, and the creditor went no further. If you filed a Rechtsvorschlag, you can ask the office, once three months have passed since the payment order was served and before third parties’ right to see it ends, not to show the proceedings to others. The office gives the creditor 20 days to prove it took legal steps in time to set your objection aside. If it can’t, the entry is no longer shown. If the creditor proves it later, or the proceedings go on, they can be shown again (SchKG, Art. 8a, as in force since 1 January 2026). The office tells you the conditions and the cost; Basel-Stadt charges CHF 40 for this request.
• The proceedings were cancelled. Proceedings that are void, or cancelled by a court or on appeal, are not shown to others (SchKG, Art. 8a).

Swizeo and the debt collection extract

If you have an entry, read getting a loan with a Betreibung and what lenders check. The ZEK and the IKO, the two credit information offices, keep separate records; see ZEK and IKO explained.

If you have open debt collection and bills are hard to pay, a new loan can make it harder. Start with free help: debt help in Switzerland.

Next step

Once you have your extract, check our requirements and the documents we ask for on the personal loan page.