Polish owner lied in the contract. The area of the flat is actually 62.24 m2 and not 90 m2 as written by him

Polish owner lied in the contract. The total area of the flat is actually 62.24 m2 and not 90 m2 as written by him in the contract.

He also lied about the bills. In the contract he wrote I must pay the bills for gas, water and light.

But he wants me to pay also "future repairments" and "administration" bills.

Whaat can I do about him, he is clearly dishonest

(It is about an apartment I rented from the owner, in Warszawa, in an old communist block of flats)

Thank you all

Tell him that the contract was clearly wrong and therefore void. Tell him that either he repays to you all money you have given him as a deposit and whatever is left for the payment period after you move out and no longer use the flat or four things will happen:

1) you will report him to the public prosecutor for the crime of fraud (he claimed the flat was 50% larger than it actually is);
2) you will report him to the tax office for non-payment of taxes (he won't be declaring the income he gets from renting that flat);

3) you will report him to the building administration (he'll need permission from the community to rent the flat out and will pay higher charges, possibly he even doesn't actually own the flat but just has the right to live there and cannot actually sublet the flat);

4) you'll file a court case for return of your money and your costs.

He'll pay up.

And find yourself somewhere new to live.

When I report him, am I not being at risk as well?

To me the size of the flat is not a really important issue, except when it comes to the admin costs. This is because these costs are per square metre of the flat. Sometimes flats have an andresola (an area where you go up to a bedroom or so) which is counted in the square metres of the flat.

I am afraid that 'czynsz' (admin costs and repairs) must be paid by the person occupying the flat. You must get a formal note of how much these are and if you don't believe the landlord go to the admin office and ask.

He is not dishonest, but that is the way it is.

Terri I understand from your other posts that you are a Landlord as well, that is why you disregard the excellent advices of Harry and advise the tenant to break the contract and to just be a golden chicken who lays gold eggs for the Landlord, and pay up anything that landlord requires,

which is laughable

here is the thing. When you happily terminate your contract with your current landowner and rent a new apartment (and I really hope it goes as smoothly as possible) in that new apartment you will have to pay " maintenance bill" as well. It may be lower, it may include all the things we told you maintenance bill can include (heating, cold water, hot water, gas) or some of them. But as long, as you rent apartment from a person who doesn't own the whole building, but just one apartment - you will have to pay. Just next time you will know to ask how much is it, and calculate accordingly.

Also next time look at the apartment. 90-60 is a very big difference, how could you not notice the apartment is 1/3 smaller than it should?

@Anna2016
Just to clarify. Please never assume that you know what a person does for a living when you DO NOT.
I am not and never have been a landlord in Poland. However, I have rented a flat in Warsaw some years ago when I worked there so have an idea of what goes on.

I have my own flat in an 8 flat kamienica (tenament) in Krakow where all the owners have to pay czynsz. We pay 4.50 pln per sq metre of flat area which goes towards admin and maintenance. In the admin costs are salary costs for the administrator, finance staff, and also the costs of insurance, 5 yearly full building inspection, annual gas checks, annual chimney sweep inspections, payment for communal areas such as electricity, cleaning, clearing of snow, leaves and sweeping paths. The maintenance costs are for maintenance i.e. repairs that need to be carried out or will be carried out in the future.

In your case, each flat owner or resident of a flat each year MUST receive a full and detailed account of where the money collected from czynsz has been spent and how much is left in a reserve fund.

I have suggested on many occasions that you speak directly with the admin office who will be able to advise you on this. In the future, you will know what to ask for and before you take any legal tenancy, you will have all the readings from the meters (water,gas,electricity) shown in the contract as well as any sums due for czynsz.

Harry, your advice is excellent, thank you very much, can you detail
a little more on points 1) and 2) or 4)

Thank you very much

Tell him that the contract was clearly wrong and therefore void. Tell him that either he repays to you all money you have given him as a deposit and whatever is left for the payment period after you move out and no longer use the flat or four things will happen:

1) you will report him to the public prosecutor for the crime of fraud (he claimed the flat was 50% larger than it actually is);

2) you will report him to the tax office for non-payment of taxes (he won't be declaring the income he gets from renting that flat);

3) you will report him to the building administration (he'll need permission from the community to rent the flat out and will pay higher charges, possibly he even doesn't actually own the flat but just has the right to live there and cannot actually sublet the flat);

4) you'll file a court case for return of your money and your costs.

He'll pay up.