Breaking Poland Property Rental Contracts

Hey Folks,

I want to go back home...I have 3 months left on my rental contract....6000zl worth plus the landlord has 1500zl deposit of mine.

I don't care about the deposit

He will not let me out of the contract.

What is the worst he can do?...could he sue once I'm back in England?....could he try and wreck my credit rating?.....could stop me leaving the country??....

I just want to go home!!!

Any help/advise would be fantastic

Cheers

HomeSick Brit

Want to or have to?

Best thing you can do is find a replacement tenant. If he (landlord) has to it will cost him, so he won't encourage that. Legally in Poland it's not dissimilar to the UK where the assured minimum term of a tenancy is 6 months and you can't break the contract before that.

You could do a runner but the outstanding sum isn't trivial and the landlord would consider it worth his while to sue cross-border. As a property owner myself I certainly wouldn't sympathise with you doing that.

Other than that, let's think laterally: it might just be that a change in your circumstances in PL would make the next 4 months bearable. Where are you and what is the cause of your homesickness exactly? 'I don't like it here' is to some extent solvable.

Times like this and we miss Harry. But hey, let's ask Southern or trener.

@HomeSick Brit, check your contract. Is there a 'okres wypowiedzi', a notice period? Most contracts have them. If so, give notice. If there isn't, you're stuck.

If there isn't, you may well end up on the Polish bad debt register. that might not sound so bad, but if they're standardised Europe-wide it could cause you problems.

The good news is that it's expensive to sue somebody in Poland. The bad news is that suing for unpaid debts is getting easier, and you could be very easily chased for the money in the UK.

As @alexw68 says, why do you want to leave?

Naaah, if it's unambiguous and concise you want, nomad's the man.

As Jonny says, bad debt travels with you a lot easier nowadays. Tread with care.

after 3 years i'm kinda shattered here....my driving license, passport, id all need to be renewed soon.....i just rather go home.

No notice period :(

We signed a 14 month contract....into the 10th now

Are you sure you know what you signed? Standard practice (well, we do it) is 1 month notice after 6 months. I'm not sure that isn't statutory whatever it says on the contract and could be contested in court - but it'd take that 3 months for the case to get heard.

Still those other questions - where are you in PL, what are you doing there?

Maybe try a lawyer. If the contract goes against the civil code that could get you out of it - though not easy to do alone. Alex's advice about finding a replacement (maybe by a discreet advert) is a way out. Which city are you in?

alexw68

In Pruszkow...20 mins from Warsaw

I have a can do my job from anywhere...came here so my misses could fininsh her degree....way cheaper than England....she has 3 months left but I have just burnt out.

Thanks for all the advice so far.....

I'm worried mainly about credit....as I have a mortgage application going through now.

There is a get out clause for the landlord...if i wreck the place...use it for illegal purposes....etc he can give me one months notice...but there is nothing vice versa.. it is standard document ...i have seen them on the internet before...but the landlord has modified it

Well, that settles it. No funny business, they're not exactly throwing money at applicants right now. Maximise your chances - meaning, keep it clean.

What you need is a holiday. Get out of there for 2 weeks, your wife might actually get some more work on her dissertation done if s/one else isn't there. Come back refreshed. It's not the 1990s, no 24-hour coach trips, jump on a plane, do it.

And do it again in 6 weeks if you have to.

Merged:

I want to leave my flat before contract ends

Hello, I want to leave my apartment but I have a contract of 1 year. By law, how many months of notice should I give to the owner if I want to leave the flat? It's not written in the contract.