Landlord in Poland - tenant laws, statue of limitation

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if you guys know where I can find the Polish laws (in English) about landlord and tenants rights.

Also, where I can find the statue of limitation on suing an ex landlord for abusing their rights as owners, and abusing me as a tenant (by withholding money/never giving me back the money that is rightfully mine).

thank you so much for your time and attention, and for sharing your knowledge.

What you need to understand is that knowing the law isn't going to help you - the Polish legal system is long winded and more or less broken.

What works is knowing that if you report him to the tax office, they will make him cry and wish that he had never met you.

He could try the electronic court, he might get lucky.


An excellent option is to tell the landlord that he needs either his money back or a receipt for the money he paid because he needs to show the tax office he spent that money so that he can reduce the amount of tax he pays.

Well, it does help me - because I know now my rights. He has no right to do ANY of the things he is doing, and the laws says that I can enforce the law myself, and there is no need for any court or anything. And if I do this within the law, he has no right to go to the Police, or sue me. He might, but that will cost him money, and he is off to a bad start - considering what *he wants is outside of the law to begin with.

The law is clear: he is NOT allowed to benefit in ANY way from our bills to the water/gas/electricity. And since these bills are in his name, I am 99% sure he has put them as expenses and is waiting to get his VAT& other stuff back from the Polish tax office. He is profiteering from the law, abusing the law - abusing his rights as a landlord, and abusing us as his tenants.

He has no right to terminate our contract, unless he moves back in the house, and finds us a new place to live in, to the standards of the house *now, at the same price, and has to pay for our moving costs. Considering that we initially moved into a sh*thole, and we have invested money in this house (in the idea we can stay here for at least 2 years) - he would have to find us a place at a much higher standard than this rent - which will be impossible for him.

Also - he has NO right whatsoever to keep our bills in his name, and prevent us from transferring them into our name by not signing on our new contracts with the water/gas/electricity. If he does so, we can go to the Police, and the Police can sign these papers for us. And besides - as I said, he is getting money back from the Polish state (YOUR money, as law abiding tax payers) from OUR bills. Again - highly against the law.

Also - in his last email, he has threatened us. He has made a very wide in range threat towards us, therefore we can not (as stated in the law) enjoy the premises peacefully, within our rights. So we are going to the Police and reporting him for that as well.

Also - he has not only not fixed the control panel of the heating for 3.5 winter months, but the control panel was broken in the first place, and he had lied to us about it functioning properly when we moved into the house. Therefore - we can claim from him a % of our gas bills that were overly high due to his abusive "negligence". Not to mention he has clearly profited from these high gas bills we had - so he has broken his responsibilities as a landlord, and has profited from the laws.

Also - he has told us he will charge us for his lawn mower that was stolen during the summer, even though he is the only house (in the fenced in private property) who does not have his own fence defining clearly his garden, and therefore it was easy for anyone to come in the garden and take the stuff. He did make a point to us, when we moved in, that this was a safe neighborhood. And then his sh*tty lawn mower was stolen, together with a brand new: hose, sprinkle device, and extension cord that were ours. We, of course, filed a police report, with exact date of the breaking in, and receipts of our stolen stuff. He - however, did not even bother to go to the Police and confirm *his lawn mower being stolen. And now he wants to charge us for it....................

Also - he has lied to us about a street electricity bill, saying for 10 months the bill (of one bulb) was 250 PLN, when in fact the bill for the whole year was 50 PLN.

Also - he has been notified about some tiles on the roof falling, and he has 2 more days from his 2 week period to fix this, otherwise we have the right to fix the problem ourselves and charge him for this, by paying less rent. Not to mention that tiles falling from the roof are reckless endangerment to us, the mailman, delivery companies, the neighbors, and especially children here.

Not to mention that we can indeed report him to the tax office for his tax fraud with the rent AND his claiming *our bills as his expenses.

I can make him cry myself, plus the tax office. Man, is it good to be informed, or what?

About my Q about the statue of limitation: we have actually initially moved in this house because of our previous landlady: she had to agree to break her bathroom wall in order to fix a broken pipe between her wall/floor and the ceiling of the store below. So due to this, we had to live there for a few days without a properly attached toilet. However, she wanted to fix the bathroom with the same tiles, but because the tiles that she had chosen for the bathroom were stopped from production in 2005, it was difficult to find them in 2012. Not to mention all of them were behind the toilet either way, so honestly - she could have chosen something neutral. So she was supposedly looking for these tiles for about a month, without any results. So we got upset with this, and told her - but she was very rude and disrespectful, so we (at the time, without knowing our rights) chose to move from that place. Not only because of her, and her attitude, but also because of her unwillingness to fix the problem in the near future.

So we wanted to terminate the contract immediately, but she said that would be a loss to her, and a bunch of other cr*p, so we just left. We have lost the deposit+ its interest, half of a rent, plus money from having paid full rent without being able to use fully and properly the apartment. I am not yet sure if we were the ones who were obliged to pay the maintenance of the building or if that was actually her responsibility - I will have to look into this.

So this happened in March 15 2012 (that is when we left that apartment). It has been a year already, so I was wondering where we can find the statue of limitation for this kind of abuse on her part.

Thank you so much for your replies! :)

We, of course, have ALL of this on paper (emails) and bank transfers.

Instead of writing this all online, why don't you simply invite him to a meeting where you outline exactly how much of a hold you have over him, and give him a week to sort it out?

Much easier and far more effective. Having said this, putting money into a property you don't own is...an interesting idea.

What is electronic court?!

Actually - I can`t have a meeting and tell him all of this. He believes he is above the law - he has had legal troubles with his neighbors as well. But what I will do is enforce everything I said here, and everything more - according to the law.

Forgive my cynicism, but in Poland, a strong hand is respected more than the law. He won't mess with you if he knows you'll get the taxman involved - but tge law? Nothing to be frightened of.

Exactly. It's pretty easy to laugh at threats of law suits here in Poland.

I am not threatening him with the law :) I am enforcing those rights that I have the right to enforce myself - within the law :) and he can sue me if he wants to - even though, really, he can`t :)

I have no reason to sue this guy - I am within my own rights.

And about the tax authorities - again, I`m not threatening him. He has abused the laws, and my ignorance of the laws - but I will report him nonetheless, because that is my duty as a tax paying citizen.

So basically - I am doing what you suggested: I will show him a firm hand. He has so far abused me with every chance he got, and besides this - has disrespected me, and insulted me, and threatened me. So I am so over being forgiving of his criminal behaviors. It is not really *my decision to forgive him of his criminal behaviors or not, that is up to the specific authorities who deal with this :)

Do you live in a small town or village?

I live in a small village near Krakow, in a "community" of houses on private property :)

I urge some caution in this respect, then. You don't know about the guy and his history - while he might just be a chancer, people do tend to stick together in these places.

Actually he has had problems with the neighbors next door, and they have been to court several times. And the neighbors are not friends with him - they actually speak pretty badly of him. We only wish we could have known this before we moved here.

There should be a huge warning sign for foreigners moving to Poland BEWARE THE LANDLORD. We have been here a year, I am about to rip my hair out in the dealing with our landlord. After taking possession I found out they were asking 4000 zloty a month, but the agent and owner told us 4500 (so that is what we are paying), they moved out, the fridge wasn't working properly, there was no hot water, took us 2 months to find every hidden cigarette butt in the planters in the house, could have taken 5 seconds to fix the stove top but didn't bother, the heating system didn't work, the hot water tank didn't work either. We came from Canada, and all these people see are foreign dollars and easy money for them. Now she is sending us emails (because the cheap washer she put in the house according to our lease broke), that she is paying all the bills, and we should be paying. I have made a list of everything we have invested in a property that isn't even our own, it is staggering. I hate this house, I hate the fact I have no idea who I can trust here, and I hate the fact we have to be here two more years. Long and short of it, if you are being sent here for work, ask to be sent somewhere else.....no one needs this kind of hassle.

Remember you can always give notice and move somewhere else. Most landlords are not as bad as they one you're using.

I think there is more of an expectation that the tenants will fix stuff for themselves in Poland than there is in the US. That can be a bit of a shock. Check the apartment carefully before you agree to take it!

That said, it can also be a bit of a shock when Polish tenants in US decide to re-configure the kitchen cabinets without bothering to run it by the landlord first. ;)

how much energy do you invest in life in complaining about things and fighting battles with landlords?

If the place is so bad - a) why did you rent it in the first place? b) Why don't you walk away and find a better place?

Merged:

Tenant rights / gross negligence (my landlord gave me pneumonia)

my landlord failed to fix my broken heating for 6+ months during which i was hospitalized with pneumonia
what legal action if any am i entitled to?

termination of the lease without notice, followed by further legal steps. It is best to refer the matter to a lawyer to check the contract and handing over the apartment in the presence of witnesses. If the case is in Warsaw, I can help. if other city I have to check if i know someone worth recommending

Hi there.
I have a notified my landlord that i'm moving out this week, i still have four months till my contract ends. I thought all i had to do was get a replacement, and that's it. But they replied saying that my email is "threatening" and that i have to pay a month worth of rent if i'm to look for a replacement.

In case i want to leave the apartment early, these are the options documented
1. finding a new tenant to replace it on terms at least the same as the existing contract and paying an administrative fee in the amount of one month's rent

2. paying 3 times the monthly rent with one week's notice period, with effect at the end of the month.

Now, somethings might have gotten lost in translation, as my contract is not in english- because the way I understood option 1- if i want to leave early, i can get a replacement as long as they are able to pay the same rent and deposit accordingly. If i don't get the replacement by beginning of May, then i will pay the rent for May.

Side note- I plan to tell them to take that out of my deposit, are they able to that?
( these landlords are so inflexible and unfair, every time i request for something or negotiate with them, i just end up with lots of migraines🙄)

Anyways along the tons of emails, they replied with, they also threatened to take me to court and pay lots of bills and also report me at the debt collection office, if i don't abide by the rules.

They also say i should continue paying rent as normal, in case the replacement delays to pay the next month's rent, and the amount will be refunded back to me as soon as the replacement pays rent. (🫤🫤🫤 i feel like i would never get that money back 😅) and again they can take this out of my deposit !

I'm so confused, this landlord has rented some rooms to my friends in the past, he didn't give them their deposit, yet they moved out as soon as the contract had ended. I don't trust them at all, which why i have even decided to even move out in the first place.

I feel like this is totally unfair. I don't fully know my rights, but the contract i have is in digital format and it's in polish, i use google translate to read it, i just thought i had to look for a replacement and that's it. I don't understand why i have to pay all this money

What should i do?

@Citygurl

Did you find any solution to your queries? Currently, I am in the same situation. I have informed (1 month before) the agent that we are going to vacant the apartment, he said that he need to find the new tenant or else he won't return the deposit. He is not helping us at all, he has not posted the advertisement on any online platform so I am not sure how he is going to find the new tenant (when we asked to send the link of ads, so that we can share it with other people and to help him finding a new tenant he said there is some issue in otodom and he is unable to add it.)

Thanks

Do not lift a finger to help him find a tenant. It is nothing to do with you.

Don't pay your last months rent. Then it does not matter if he does not repay your deposit. Probably he won't anyway, will just make up some BS about things he claims are broken.

Seems there are some terrible landlords around.

I have paid the rent and deposit to the landlord by cash (because he has some problems with bank and said me to give him a cash payment ) and signed the contract, however on the day when I supposed to move in the apartment i came to know that the room's door looks has been damaged , bathroom door is unlockable, freezer also broken and dirty, washing machine is not working as well as other household appliances. When I ask the other tenants and they said he's not repairing from a long time therefore, I didn't move on that apartment Now after knowing these things i ask the owner and told everything to him in the messages because he's not picking up my calls but still didn't get any response from him yet.I don't know what should I do.

Did you get a receipt?

Unlikely

Shouldnt really matter if the lease was signed and it must and should have been mentioned about the security deposit in it,If it is the judge will favor the tenant and if the security deposit is not mentioned then the landlord tricked him and the tenant can kiss the cash deposit goodbye.

If the tenant didnt move in also depends if he can prove that he didnt accept the key.Thats why its always safe to have a final walk through before closing on a property or even accepting or handing over the key for the permises.A basic fu.ckin rule these amateurs dont follow.