The Eviction Process in Poland

The eviction system in the Republic of Poland for a "standard lease agreement" is considered by lawyers to be highly complicated, politicized, and extremely "pro-tenant." Throwing a tenant out onto the street on one's own (so-called self-eviction involving changing locks or cutting off gas) is illegal and treated as a criminal offense by the courts. Even when a contract ends and the tenant refuses to move out, the landlord has no tools other than a long and patience-demanding legal pursuit of Eviction using a Court judgment and a Polish Court Bailiff.

1. Statutory Grounds for Termination

It is an incredibly difficult to terminate an indefinite-term contract just like that. In Art. 11 of the Tenant Protection Act, the legislator allows the landlord to write a notice of termination (in writing under pain of nullity) only in specific situations, imposing strict, official calendar deadlines (e.g., the duration of the arrears and postal time).

The landlord may terminate the agreement no later than one month in advance, at the end of a calendar month, if:

• Non-payment (Most common option): The tenant is in arrears with the payment of rent or other fees for using the premises for at least three full payment periods (standardly: 3 months of delay according to the Act). Important: Before handing over the final termination of the agreement, the landlord is forced to send a registered and approved notification to "warn the tenant in writing of the intention to terminate, setting a strict additional period of one month to pay past and current arrears." Even the smallest formal error "cancels" the entire claim after a year of torment upon reaching court.
• Devastation and Violating House Rules: The tenant uses the premises with a gross violation of health and safety regulations, brutally abuses the developer installation obliterating traces of deliberate vandalism, or deliberately "cumbersomely violates the house rules," moreover "despite a prior written warning to cease from the owner."
• Illegal Subletting / Airbnb: Renting the premises to 6 construction workers without the Owner's permission if the contract was for two retirees, or advertising the place for sub-leasing (e.g., accommodation platforms).
• Foreign Use: Using the apartment for a motorcycle workshop, etc.

2. Eviction to the Street - "Protection Period"

When the Civil Court finally issues a verdict ("a judgment ordering the squatter to vacate and surrender the premises"), neither the landlord nor anyone else simply steps in to evict. Such an important act falls under the command of the local State Bailiff's Office (Komornik).

A massive and fundamental legal rigor for a foreigner and rental novice in PL is the law blocking "Eviction to the ground". Polish laws (and a ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal) provide massive social protection (The verdict must order the municipality/state authorities to provide a "temporary" apartment/shelter having a roof).

• WINTER: The so-called Protection Period. Polish law established a ban on throwing anyone out between November 1 and March 31, if the court/bailiff does not have a designated social/temporary premises ready for the evicted party from an appropriate relief entity. Exceptions include, for example, pathological criminal eviction due to rape / assault and gross family oppression determined by the prosecutor's office.
• Highly legally protected persons: Polish regulations de facto forbid common courts from simply evicting, among others: pregnant mothers and children with disabilities, sick people to a degree that prevents them from insuring themselves, given their division of economic passivity; these people are pre-ordained (from the Polish Municipality) to receive a social apartment, for which the costs indirectly (in the form of forced waiting and lack of access and loss of electricity fees and investment amortization) are borne for months by the private investor owner (landlord) due to delays.

Occasional Lease (As an escape for investors)

To free oneself from this rigor (especially the winter one), the notarial Occasional Lease (Najem Okazjonalny) was introduced en masse. Before a notary, the tenant agrees to a Statement of voluntary submission to eviction "only to the stamped, certified alternative own Apartment of aunt X, for example". If they stop paying for 3 months, this act at the Judge's in just a few dozen hours immediately obtains an Enforceability Clause - and the bailiff, without waiting for the Municipality, transports the person to the new address listed notarized in the contract.

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