The legal basis for the tenant's obligations when returning the apartment is art. 675 parish 1 of the Civil Code, which states: “After the lease is completed; However, it is not responsible for the consumption of things resulting from proper use.
According to this provision, The tenant after the end of the lease is required to renew the apartment and make the repairs burdening it. Importantly, the obligation to renew the premises exists regardless of whether the condition of the apartment after rent is the result of normal, proper use. This regulation is clearly less beneficial for tenants than the general rental rules.
What is the renewal of the apartment?
“The owner of the apartment reduced my deposit because he claims that I have destroyed the furniture and did not fix the damage” – such complaints often appear on the internet.
– It is worth knowing that the obligation to renew the premises mentioned by art. 6e of the Act on the protection of tenants' rights occurs only after the lease is completed – says Andrzej Prajsnar, expert of the Gethome.pl portal.
– Possible earlier renewal of the apartment is a manifestation of the tenant's good willand not the implementation of the requirement set by the law – he emphasizes.
The concept of “renewal of the apartment” has not been precisely defined in the regulations, which often leads to divergent interpretations between tenants and owners. In practice, renewal most often includes painting walls and ceilingsbut it may also apply to other work aimed at restoring the apartment with an aesthetic appearance.
It is worth noting that the renewal standard should be adequate to the condition of the apartment when the tenant is transferred. If the tenant has moved into a freshly renovated apartment with newly painted walls, a similar standard can be expected at the return. However, if the apartment was already inhabited and had traces of use, the tenant is not obliged to return it in a better condition than he received.
How to avoid disputes about repainting an apartment?
To minimize the risk of conflicts related to repainting the apartment after the end of the lease:
- Precise lease agreement – It is advisable to accurately specify in the contract what to renew the apartment. You can take into account such details as paint color or the standard of work. The more detailed the contract, the smaller the field for later disputes.
- Initial status documentation -It is necessary to reliably draw up a delivery and acceptance protocol when entering the apartment, with a detailed description of the state of walls and other elements requiring renewal. We wrote about how to make it in this article.
- Photographic documentation – Photos taken before the start of the lease can be key evidence in the case of disputes regarding the state of the premises.
- Final protocol – When returning the apartment, it is worth drawing up a detailed protocol documenting the condition of the premises after the end of the lease.
Some owners document the condition of the apartment using photos or videos. Although such practices may seem excessive, they are used to protect the interests of both sides. For a tenant, this is a way to prove which aesthetic problems occurred at the time of introduction.
– Reliable preparation of the protocol is also in the interest of the tenant – emphasizes Gethome.pl expert. – It is about documenting technical or aesthetic problems that were already present at the time of transferring the premises – he adds.
In residential premises from outside the public housing resource (i.e. not found by local governments or the State Treasury), the parties may set other rules regarding the renewal of the apartment, but they must always take into account the general principle of returning the premises in an uncomfortable state.
Awareness of the duties related to repainting the apartment after the end of the lease and adequate protection of interests through a precise contract and documentation will avoid many misunderstandings and conflicts between tenants and the owners of apartments.
