Pathology of Polish lease. Even the Ombudsman is calling for changes to the regulations because they “disturb the balance”
2025-12-26 10:00
publication
2025-12-26 10:00
They move in, pay one rent and silence… A fictitious address to move from an occasional lease… The locks have been changed and the owner cannot enter his apartment… These are problems that tenants face on a daily basis when they come across dishonest landlords who try to take advantage of loopholes in the system in every possible way. And the owner? You can sit down and cry. The Ombudsman decided to draw attention to this inequality.
They don't want to move out without paying, they hide behind their children, they know every little thing – getting back a flat rented by someone dishonest seems to be an ordeal. And although it is possible to collect overdue bills and fees from the owner, as is removal from the apartment, in court after an eviction has been ordered, most often the proceedings drag on indefinitely. In addition, it sometimes happens that the rented apartment is encumbered with a mortgage loan, which in practice was to be repaid from the funds obtained from the lease. In practice, if the owner is unlucky, he has to reach into his wallet and pay mortgage installments, rent and bills that are not his own for an apartment he is not allowed to enter.
No wonder that too broad protection of tenants' rights and ineffective protection of owners' rights attracted the attention of the Ombudsman, who receives numerous complaints related to leases.
Renting a room instead of the entire apartment. Landlords protect themselves against unreliable tenants, but are they effective?
A bit through the back door, but apartment owners share ways to protect themselves against unreliable tenants. One of them is signing a contract for individual rooms with access to the kitchen and bathroom, rather than the entire apartment. This way, if there are any problems, you can move in or “register” someone. Is this legal?
– Complaints received by the Ombudsman from natural persons who rent residential premises, helpless in relation to dishonest tenants, may indicate that the protection of tenants' rights, which is assumed to protect the “weaker” side of the legal relationship, sometimes supports pathological situations and behavior of dishonest tenants – can be read in the published statement of the Commissioner for Human Rights.
In his opinion, “the current legal system does not provide effective mechanisms that would solve the problem within a reasonable time. Dishonest tenants benefit from this because they do not bear the consequences of their persistent and deliberate actions to the detriment of property owners.”
It is difficult to accept that the owner of the apartment should bear the costs of occupying the premises by a dishonest tenant and satisfy his housing needs, replacing the public authorities.
The Commissioner for Human Rights adds that “in principle, it does not question the need to protect tenants' rights and applicable regulations. However, there are reservations about the use of these pro-tenancy regulations in practice in a conscious and instrumental manner, which violates the right to own a flat. Based on current regulations lack of proper balance in the protection of the rights of premises owners and tenants may be assessed as violating the principle of proportionality resulting from Art. 31 section 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland“. He therefore calls on the government to take action.
Renting an apartment is one of the most profitable sources of income. What should both parties to the lease take care of?
Renting an apartment is one of the most profitable sources of income. People renting apartments may conclude a contract in the ordinary form. They can also benefit from broader protection provided by occasional rentals, which must be reported to the tax office within 14 days. In the article below, we explain what a lease agreement should contain and what to pay attention to when signing such a document as a landlord and a tenant.
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