Understand Your Rental Rights Before You Sign

Polish tenancy law provides significant protections for renters that many tenants are unaware of. This module covers the key provisions of the Ustawa o ochronie praw lokatorów, including protection against arbitrary eviction, rules around rent increases, the landlord's obligation to maintain habitable conditions, and what happens when a landlord fails to carry out necessary repairs. Participants learn how to document issues, communicate formally with landlords, and understand what remedies are available when rights are violated.

Letting a property involves legal obligations that go beyond collecting rent. This topic is designed for property owners and covers: drafting a contract that is both legally sound and clear, conducting a proper handover inventory, handling deposits correctly to avoid disputes, understanding when and how rent can be adjusted, dealing with non-payment situations through proper legal channels, and the process for lawful termination of a tenancy. We also cover tax reporting obligations that apply to rental income in Poland.

Finding a rental property involves risks that are not always obvious. This module explains how to verify that a person advertising a property actually has the right to rent it, what documents to request before paying any deposit, how to identify common rental scams, what a fair market price looks like in different Polish cities, and how to compare offers meaningfully. We also cover working with real estate agents: what their role is, what fees are permissible, and what to watch for in agency agreements.

Deposit disputes are among the most common conflicts in rental relationships. This module covers what Polish law says about deposit deductions, what counts as normal wear and tear versus actual damage, how to document the property condition at both move-in and move-out, what steps to take when a deposit is withheld without justification, and how mediation and small claims procedures work. We also address how to handle disputes about utility bills, shared costs in multi-unit buildings, and disagreements about contract interpretation.

Not all rental situations follow the standard private market model. This topic covers the social housing system in Poland (mieszkania komunalne and TBS), how to apply and what the eligibility criteria involve, housing benefit schemes available to lower-income renters, the rules that apply to renting from housing cooperatives, and the specific rights and obligations that apply in student accommodation. We also address short-term and furnished rentals, which operate under different norms than long-term unfurnished tenancies.