Polish Laws regarding renting , and contracts, help

Hi
What rights do tenants have in Poland?
Are there any risks?
For example what good are written contracts. What is important the contract states in written form , to protect the tenant. I feel there are some shady lessors out there, especially in the big cities., plus I've heard some bad stories about tenants being ejected even with a contract and without having given notice of leaving.. Also concerning notice, is it normal with just an oral notice or should it be written, should this be stated in the contract. Can a tenant complain to a third party about this since of course taking the matter up with the lessor is biased.

I guess this really concerns non polish, foreigners who because of the language barrier and no understanding of their rights in poland are usually at risk of this. please I hope someone has any good advice and it would be helpful in the future as well for all people wanting to rent i.e. a flat.

thanks

Depends if they are the old type of 'sitting tenants' in which case they have pretty wide-ranging rights, or 'normal' tenants who sign a specific contract with the landlord. There's no standard form of contract in Poland, like the Assured Shorthold Tenancy in the UK.


They're your only way of proving what you agreed with your tenant/landlord! Theoretically they are enforceable under Polish law but doing anything through the court takes ages.


This can happen anywhere but the law says that a landlord isn't allowed to break in to a property and eject the people who live there if they have nowhere else to go. I guess in such an event the police should be called and shown a copy of the contract, and the landlord should be asked to show proof that the notice was received. If tenants have a written contract they can take the landlord to court and wait for the process to take its course, but I guess most people can't be bothered to go down this route.


It should normally be written, and I'd imagine that you definitely want to put the notice period (and how notice is served) put it in the contract. I'm not a lawyer but my approach would be to make sure that any notice be posted as a signed-for delivery (you have to sign for it when you pick it up and the landlord is sent a return postcard confirming that it's been picked up).


There's only the court really. But if you don't like the terms of a contract, or you think there may be problems later on, don't sign it! If you're that worried, pay a lawyer to look over it and draft any amendments.