Security Deposits in Poland

In Poland, collecting a security deposit (kaucja zabezpieczająca) is a very common practice when signing an apartment lease. This institution aims to secure the landlord's claims arising from the lease belonging to them on the day the premises are vacated, primarily for damages and rent arrears.

1. Maximum Deposit Amount

According to Art. 6 sec. 1 of the Act on the Protection of Tenants' Rights, the conclusion of a lease agreement may be conditional upon the tenant paying a security deposit.

• Legal Limit: The deposit cannot exceed 12 times the monthly rent for the given premises, calculated according to the rent rate valid on the day the agreement is concluded.
• Market Practice: Rarely does an owner demand a 12-month deposit. In Poland, the absolute standard is a deposit equal to 1 or 2 months' rent. It is usually required in advance in full when signing the lease or handing over the keys.

2. What the Deposit Can Be Used For (Deductions)

The deposit must be returned, however, the owner has the right to deduct (offset) from it claims due from the lease on the day the premises are vacated.

Permitted deductions include:

• Overdue, unpaid rent.
• Unpaid utility bills, electricity, gas, internet (which the tenant used but did not pay).
• Damage to the premises or its furnishings exceeding so-called "normal wear and tear" listed in the Handover Protocol (Protokół Zdawczo-Odbiorczy) (e.g., a broken window, a burned carpet, broken cabinets).
• Cleaning costs, if the tenant left extreme mess and dirt despite an agreement obligating return in a clean state.

The landlord cannot deduct the costs of refreshing the apartment due to "normal wear and tear" (fading of walls, dulling of laminate floors due to walking on them over the years). The cost of this risk is included in the rent itself.

3. Deposit Return Timeline

According to Polish law (Art. 6 sec. 4 of the Act), the deposit is subject to return within one month from the day the premises are vacated (moving out and handing over the keys). The owner is not obliged to return the money in the same hour, gaining a 30-day window to check final utility bills.

Important: The final rent should not be "deducted" or "frozen" from the deposit in the last month by the tenant, unless the Landlord grants explicit written consent (the deposit is fundamentally for potential damages).

4. Indexation (Return in an Updated Amount)

The return of an indexed deposit takes place in an amount equal to the product of the monthly rent amount valid on the day the deposit is returned and the multiple of the rent adopted when collecting the deposit. This means that if upon moving in, the deposit was "1 month's rent," and after 5 years of renting the rent increased by 20% due to hikes, the owner returning the deposit gives back the "new" rate of a 1-month rent from the day of moving out. At the same time, the returned amount cannot be lower than the nominal deposit amount paid at the very beginning of the lease, even if rent rates theoretically fell in the market environment.

The arbitration center between a dissatisfied Tenant and an Owner refusing to return 2,000 PLN under the pretext of scratched floors in Poland is not a public tribunal (like the LTB in Canada), but exclusively the standard and extremely slow Civil Courts circulation, after exhausting Mediation procedures and the municipal Consumer Ombudsman. The Owner's duty before a dispute will be to present move-in vs. move-out protocols signed by Both Parties, based on photos taken with a cell phone when handing over the keys.

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