Does anyone know anything about the polish law in relation to civil code Article 394 for earnest money. Any translation or something.
The text of article 394 below together with my go at a translation. It could do with being looked over by the native speakers out there as I'm not a lawyer.
From my own experience I do know that there are 2 forms of deposit that can be paid in Poland; one is a 'zadatek' which is covered by this clause, the other is a 'zaliczka'. Your notary act will say which it is. The difference is that if the deposit is named as a 'zadatek' and one party to the agreement pulls out (e.g. the developer), then they have to pay twice the zadatek back to the buyer. If the buyer pulls out, the developer keeps the zadatek. If it's a 'zaliczka', then the developer would only have to pay the original deposit back.
art. 394
§ 1. W braku odmiennego zastrzeżenia umownego albo zwyczaju zadatek dany przy zawarciu umowy ma to znaczenie, że w razie niewykonania umowy przez jedną ze stron druga strona może bez wyznaczenia terminu dodatkowego od umowy odstąpić i otrzymany zadatek zachować, a jeżeli sama go dała, może żądać sumy dwukrotnie wyższej.Unless otherwise noted in the agreement or in custom, the deposit (zadatek) paid on signing of the agreement has the meaning that, in the event of the agreement not being carried out by one of the parties (to the agreement) the other party can, without further notice, walk away from the agreement and keep the paid deposit (zadatek), and if it paid it, it can demand a sum twice of that that was paid.
§ 2. W razie wykonania umowy zadatek ulega zaliczeniu na poczet świadczenia strony, która go dała; jeżeli zaliczenie nie jest możliwe, zadatek ulega zwrotowi.If the agreement is carried out the deposit (zadatek) should be held on account for the party that paid it; if holding it on account is not possible, the deposit should be returned.
§ 3. W razie rozwiązania umowy zadatek powinien być zwrócony, a obowiązek zapłaty sumy dwukrotnie wyższej odpada. To samo dotyczy wypadku, gdy niewykonanie umowy nastąpiło wskutek okoliczności, za które żadna ze stron nie ponosi odpowiedzialności albo za które ponoszą odpowiedzialność obie strony.If the agreement is dissolved the deposit (zadatek) should be returned, and there is no obligation to pay twice the sum. The same applies in the gase where the agreement could not be carried out as a result of circumstances for which none of the parties carries responsibility or for which both parties carry resonsibility.
I have to admit I've been lurking on the PS forum for a while and have been a little concerned by their responses to some pretty serious questions. I'm glad to see the conversation has moved out into the open air. Good luck everyone!