Work / How to find an IT internship, work placement, graduation assignment in Cracow? (Krakow) [10]

Try Hive53 - it's a group of people in the tech and IT-based startup community here in Krakow. I think some of them would jump at the chance of having a willing intern...

Travel / Custom Restrictions for Income Devices in Poland [4]

If you can't prove it's your personal property or gifts, you'll be charged duty and VAT on anything exceeding 430 euros.

Real Estate / Cousin stole my dads home in Poland... [49]

Wills in Poland (codified system) don't carry the same weight as they do in an Anglo-Saxon (based on common law) system. If they've sold the property I think the chances of getting it back are practically nil but you really should get a Polish lawyer to look into the possibility of a zachówek - sounds like your Dad's entitled to 50% of what he'd have got anyway + interest.

Love / Polish Wedding Venue near Krakow [22]

Try the Palac pod Baranami on the Rynek - they have gorgeous function rooms.

Law / Investing money in Poland - what are the best areas / ways to invest private money? [23]

Have a look at some of the internet startups coming out of Krakow and Warsaw, particularly those being spun out by software houses. Most are incorporating in Delaware now so minimal bureaucracy.

Real Estate / Renting in Poland - tenants' rights? [51]


Unfortunately, that's not true. There's no such thing as an AST in Poland and if the tenant stops paying or breaks the terms of the contract and you win the case in court (eventually), in practice there's often no way of legally evicting them. Things have got better in places like Krakow where students are pretty mobile and foreigners don't know about the weak Polish law, but tenants still hold pretty much all of the rights.

Real Estate / Renting in Poland - tenants' rights? [51]

@InWroclaw

I rent out several apartments and this is my understanding:
1. No
2 & 3. Depends on the agreement you have with them
4. Once you have a valid court order and another address to evict them to (it's illegal to evict people onto the street here).
5. Nothing is specified by law, but I'd suggest a passport/ID and confirmation of an address that they can be evicted to if the need should arise

6. Nothing is specified by law, but I usually have 6 or 12 month contracts with 1 months notice
7. You have to go through the court to evict them (see 4)
8. Depends on the agreement - it's usually easier for them to pay you and you pay it to your building coop

Due to the difficulty of evicting people if they don't pay, I usually rent to foreign professionals working here on short-term (6 or 12 month) contracts, take a month's deposit. If I rent to a Pole, we include an address that they agree then can be moved to in our agreement - it's a relatively new option under Polish law but I am not really sure how it works in practice. Hopefully I'll never need to find out.

Food / Butcher Shops in Krakow with Good Beef [11]

It's hard to get good beef here because they don't hang it. Basically it goes straight from the abbatoir to the shop and doesn't have any time to develop flavour. I suggest you go talk to the guys from Pimiento Argentine Grill as they bring in properly hung beef from Berlin. The Sklepik Naturalny on ul. Krupnicza (the one in the courtyard, half way down the street on the left as you walk away from Bagatela) also have regular deliveries from a good catering wholesaler in Berlin and may be willing to order you some.

USA, Canada / Polonia who needs help with Polish Documentary [27]


WTF? Hooliganism is hardly a large topic in Poland and Europe. And it's definitely not the most interesting thing about Poland right now! Why don't you choose a more interesting, less inflammatory subject if, as you say, "


?

Life / Question about hot water in Poland and the use of water heaters? [52]

I'm also in Krakow and strangely enough we had a discussion with the other owners of our building (a 1930's kamienica) today about the possibility of installing district heating. Apparently MPEC will connect us to the system for free (we have a mains pipe either in our street or 50 m away) and possibly even subsidise the distribution pipework within our building, all of which sounds too good to be true! I guess it's to do with Krakow's appalling air quality due to coal burning. Does anyone know anything about this? I'm going to call MPEC in the morning to find out for myself but as we seem to have some people who know what they're talking about here, I thought I'd ask...

Australia / Inheritance: Dual citizenship (Australia) but no Polish will [3]


Yes. You need to go through a court process to transfer the ownership. I'm about to PM you the name of a lawyer I can recommend.

Real Estate / Good places to live in Krakow [20]

IBM is located on ul. Armii Krajowej to the north east of the centre which, luckily for you, is near to some nice residential districts. I'd recommend you try and find an apartment in the Krowodrza or Nowa Wies districts - you'll be able to walk to work and in to the Old Town in the evenings. But in any case, there are loads of buses that go past as it's opposite the main university campus and halls of residence.

Food / Looking for Recipe/Info on Cake with Preserves/Jam [3]

sounds like a variation on Sacher Torte (or Sachertorte). You could also try googling 'tort warstwy przekładany konfiturą' (cake layers layered with jam) or combinations of that and see if any of the images that come up look like the right thing. I don't have time right now but I'll do a bit more research for you later on today. I'd hate to see a man not get his favourite cake on his birthday!

Genealogy / Writing to the council (tracing for father's step sister) [14]

Yes, that looks like the right form. My Polish isn't up to translating the covering letter I'm afraid.

You probably already know this but you need to attach proof of your relationship to this person (e.g. original birth certificates, translated by a sworn translator if they're not Polish). The full description of the process is here:

bip.krakow.pl/?dok_id=3276&sub=procedura&proc=SA-18

Real Estate / Buying a property in Poland to rent out from the UK [82]

Surely this only holds if it's officially designated as a lokal użytkowy, not a lokal mieszkalny and if the renter is a company not an individual. AFAIK there's still no possibility of 'eksmisja na bruk' for individuals so it makes no difference.

Real Estate / Landlords and flat owners in Poland - how do you choose your tenants? [5]


This is standard practice in the UK. When I rent one of my properties there, the agent does the research and supplies me with 3 months of bank statements for each tenant, an employer's confirmation of employment contract, salary + bonuses and they also check the references that the tenants supply.

Here in Poland I play safe by renting either to friends or friends of friends, or to corporates through an agency. I've yet to be given the same level of detail as in the UK, but I don't see why you can't ask for these details :) Basically I meet the people and decide whether they seem reasonable and then take a month's deposit and hope for the best. So far so good...

Life / $3,000-$4,000 a month - would we have enough money to live in Poland? [273]

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles and I hope that the next year is a better one for you. I don't know if this will help but I saw a really interesting talk about phantom pain a while ago - maybe it could help you too...

ted.com/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_mind.html
blog.ted.com/2008/03/21/phantom_limb_pa

Real Estate / Any Rent Guarantee Insurance in Poland? Tenants& Landlords In Poland [5]

There's no formal scheme, but you can always take a tenant to court for non-payment.

Real Estate / Tenancy tribunal or similar Poland office, to resolve dispute with landlord? [7]


I'm afraid not - the only route is to go through the courts.

Classifieds / English cuisine week in Lidl shops in Poland [203]


They don't grow butternut squash, or parsnips here and Jerusalem artichokes, the favourite veg of fancy chefs in the UK, is considered cattlefeed. There are piles of black turnips and horseradish root everywhere (I mean - how much of that stuff can you possibly need!!!). It's a weird place, Poland...

Food / Grilled Oszczypek/bacon/cranberry sauce - where to find in Krakow? [6]


Try Aperitif on Maly Rynek or the Stary Kleparz market - ask to see the certificate as there are a lot of fakes around. But be quick, the oscypek production season ends at the end of October and they're only around for a month longer. Anything sold after that is made from cow's milk (not sheep or sheep + cow, as is required) and isn't oscypek.

Real Estate / Question about Czynsz (Building maintenance fees/utilies) in Poland [129]


You're right - it does sounds very steep. I don't know whether this is standard practice but in our set up, the rubbish and water/scieki are calculated on the basis of how many people actually live in the place (I'll dig out our charges for place in central Krakow when I have some time). Does it include heating (central or district) too? And you're paying quite a bit for the fundusz remontowy as well...

Real Estate / Question about Czynsz (Building maintenance fees/utilies) in Poland [129]


Standard rate for an administrator to administer is about 1-1.5zl/m2 which should include building insurance, lighting of common parts (stairs etc), cleaning, minor repairs.

Then there's the Fundusz Remontowy on top, which depends on what the co-owners decide. For example, we've settled for 2zl/m2, but I'd prefer it to be 3-4zl/m2 so that we can gather the funds to do the work quicker. It is entirely feasible that once work is done, you will have a vote and this part can be reduced.

Travel / Getting from Krakow to Warsaw [99]

You can find out the fare for a given train on the PKP website - pkp.pl It takes between 2.5-3.5hrs.

Real Estate / I was adopted - what are my rights? Property inheritance in Poland [11]


It's pretty straightforward, but not easy. There are cases of old owners of properties recovering them fairly frequently in Poland so it's definitely not impossible. You need a lawyer to check the deeds of the properties and on what basis they were managed and sold. They can then advise you what to do next. It won't be quick or particularly cheap and you definitely, definitely need a good lawyer. The fact that you were adopted makes no difference under Polish law.

If your properties are somewhere in the south of Poland (Silesia, Malopolska, Podkarpacie), I too can give you the name of a good (and trustworthy) German-speaking Polish lawyer who operates here.

Real Estate / Question about Czynsz (Building maintenance fees/utilies) in Poland [129]


Of course there is - Art. 208 of the Kodeks Cywilny. If you don't get anywhere, Art. 203 allows you to appeal to the court to appoint an administrator.

Life / Back from Poland! I belong there! [16]


Yes, but are you ready for the way that life is going here?

Real Estate / Question about Czynsz (Building maintenance fees/utilies) in Poland [129]


Usually, they don't. I get a break down of what everyone is due to pay and at the end of the year, a statement about how much they've actually paid, a full set of accounts and photocopies of all the invoices and bills. Other people I know get the same and regularly have management company meetings to plan how they're going to spend their Fundusz Remontowy.

What does your administrator tell you when you ask for this information?

Real Estate / Question about Czynsz (Building maintenance fees/utilies) in Poland [129]

The short answer is that yes, there are rules, but it depends on your particular situation. If your administrator doesn't respond to your requests for information, you should talk to a lawyer about sending an official letter and trying to extract the information that way. The administrator can carry out minor repairs without approval of the owners, but all major building works need to be approved by a majority. He/she should also give you a statement of the balance in the renovation fund if you have one.

It's easy, but time consuming, to check who the other owners in the building are by checking the Księgi Wieczyste or getting an extract from the land register at the local Geodezja office, which I believe will also give you addresses as well as names.