Landlord not returning your deposit (kaucja) in Poland: what to do

When the deposit must come back

The landlord must return the kaucja within a month of the day you moved out, after deducting what you owe from the lease (art. 6 ust. 4 of the tenants’ act). The month ends on the same date of the next month: moved out on 15 March, paid by 15 April (art. 112 k.c.); a Saturday or a day off by law moves it to the next working day (art. 115 k.c.). Until then, the landlord is not late. The law gives no extra time to wait for later bills: the deposit covers what you owe on the day you move out (art. 6 ust. 1).

The same month applies to a najem okazjonalny (a private owner, a fixed term of up to 10 years, and your notarial statement that you will leave: art. 19a ust. 1–2 and 5) and to a najem instytucjonalny (the landlord rents flats as a business, and you signed a notarial statement: art. 19f ust. 1, 3 and 6). Your contract shows which you have.

The deposit may be at most 12 months’ rent in an ordinary lease, and 6 months’ rent in the other two, counted at the rent on the day you signed (art. 6 ust. 1, art. 19a ust. 4, art. 19f ust. 5). In those two it can also cover the costs of an eviction, and in a najem instytucjonalny a late payment during the lease (art. 19a ust. 4, art. 19f ust. 4 and 7).

The act does not cover places for short stays, such as hotels, guesthouses or student dormitories (art. 2 ust. 1 pkt 4), and it does not say whether it covers a single room in a flat. Where it does not apply, your contract decides; if it sets no date, the landlord must pay promptly once you demand it (art. 455 k.c.).

How much comes back

In all three kinds of lease the deposit is indexed to the rent (art. 6 ust. 3, art. 19e, art. 19j): you get back the monthly rent on the day of return, times the number of months’ rent the deposit was, but never less than you paid. Then the landlord deducts what you owe.

For example, you paid 2 months’ rent: 2 × 2,000 zł = 4,000 zł. On the day of return the rent is 2,200 zł, so the deposit is 2 × 2,200 = 4,400 zł. If the rent did not change, it is 4,000 zł.

What the landlord may keep

Only what you owe from the lease (art. 6 ust. 1 and 4), for example unpaid rent or bills, or the cost of damage you caused.

• Wear. Under the Civil Code you return the flat no worse than you got it, but you do not answer for wear from proper use (art. 675 § 1 k.c.).
• Repairs and painting. But in an ordinary lease, the act makes you, when you leave, renovate the flat, do the repairs it puts on tenants (such as floors, doors, windows, painting) and pay the value of worn fittings that were there when you moved in, such as the stove, bath, toilet or taps (art. 6b ust. 2, art. 6e ust. 1). For a private flat, your contract may set other rules (art. 6f): read it. A najem okazjonalny or instytucjonalny is not under these rules (art. 19e, art. 19j).
• The record. In an ordinary lease, you and the landlord record the state of the fittings before you move in, and the record is the basis for settling up (art. 6c). Without one, the law presumes you got the flat in good condition (art. 675 § 3 k.c.).

In court, each side proves the facts it relies on (art. 6 k.c.): you, the deposit and the day you moved out; the landlord, each amount kept.

What to collect first

• the contract and any annexes;
• proof you paid the deposit (a transfer, a receipt, or the clause in the contract);
• the handover record (protokół zdawczo-odbiorczy) from moving in and out, with meter readings;
• dated photos or videos of the flat on both days;
• proof of the day you moved out and gave back the keys;
• your messages with the landlord, and any list of what they kept.

The demand letter (wezwanie do zapłaty)

If you have not asked the landlord yet, a message first costs you nothing. The formal demand still works afterwards, and it works better when you can say you asked. Send it once the month has passed: before that, the deposit is not due.

The letter names the landlord and the deposit, says since when it is owed, gives the amount (or a gap, if you are not sure) and cites the rule above. It sets a date to pay, for example 7 days from delivery (the law sets no number), leaves a space for your bank account and can mention statutory interest. It makes no threats: at most it says, calmly, that you will consider going to court.

What it changes. Where no date for payment was set, the debtor must pay promptly once the demand reaches them, and after that owes interest for the delay (art. 455, 476 and 481 § 1 k.c.). For a deposit the law already set the date, so once the month has passed you can claim interest, even if you lost nothing (art. 481 § 1). The rate is the NBP reference rate plus 5.5 points (art. 481 § 2). Asking first also matters for costs: a landlord who gave no cause for a court case and accepts the claim at once gets their costs back from you, even if you win (art. 101 k.p.c.).

How to send it

The letter takes effect when it reaches the landlord so that they could read it; an email, when it arrives in their inbox that way (art. 61 k.c.). Any way works if you can prove it arrived: best, a registered letter with a return receipt (za potwierdzeniem odbioru); or an email, keeping the sent message; or hand it over and ask them to sign and date your copy. If your contract says how to send notices, follow it.

Use the address in the contract, or the last one the landlord gave you in writing. In an ordinary lease, if the landlord moved during the lease without telling you in writing, a registered letter with a return receipt to the old address counts as delivered even if nobody collects it (art. 6g).

If they still do not pay

You can claim the money in court.

• Which court: a district court (sąd rejonowy), unless you claim over 100,000 zł (art. 16 and 17 pkt 4 k.p.c.), for where the landlord lives or, for a company, has its seat (art. 27 § 1, art. 30).
• Up to 20,000 zł, the simplified procedure applies (postępowanie uproszczone, art. 505¹ § 1). You cannot change the claim later, so claim the full amount at once (art. 505⁴ § 1).
• Online, through e-Sąd (elektroniczne postępowanie upominawcze, EPU) at e-sad.gov.pl, for money claims due in the last 3 years (art. 505²⁸ § 2, art. 505²⁹ᵃ). You need an account there, file only online and pay the fee when you file (e-sad.gov.pl; art. 505³¹ § 1, art. 130 § 6). You must give the landlord’s PESEL or NIP (art. 505³² § 2); a municipal office (urząd gminy) can give you their PESEL if you show a legal interest (art. 46 ust. 2 pkt 1, art. 50 ust. 1 pkt 2 of the act on population records). EPU is not possible if the order would have to be delivered abroad (art. 505²⁸ § 2). If the landlord files an objection (sprzeciw), the e-case ends; you then have 3 months to sue the usual way and keep the first filing date (art. 505³⁶, art. 505³⁷ § 2).

The fee (art. 13 ust. 1–2 of the court costs act):

Claim up to	Fee
500 zł	30 zł
1,500 zł	100 zł
4,000 zł	200 zł
7,500 zł	400 zł
10,000 zł	500 zł
15,000 zł	750 zł
20,000 zł	1,000 zł
more	5% of the claim

In EPU you pay a quarter, at least 30 zł, and it counts toward the fee if you then sue the usual way (art. 19 ust. 2 pkt 2, art. 20 ust. 1). If paying would harm the support of you and your family, ask the court to free you from costs (art. 102 ust. 1). If you lose, you must pay the landlord’s necessary costs (art. 98 § 1 k.p.c.).

How long you have

Neither the tenants’ act nor the Civil Code’s lease rules set a special period for the deposit. The general period is 6 years, or 3 years for claims connected with running a business; it runs from the day the deposit was due and ends on the last day of a calendar year (art. 118, art. 120 § 1 k.c.). The one-year period in art. 677 covers some other lease claims, such as overpaid rent, but does not name the deposit. If your landlord is a business, ask free legal help which period applies. Once it has passed, the landlord can refuse to pay (art. 117 § 2).

A demand letter does not interrupt the period; a court case does, and so does the landlord acknowledging your claim (art. 123 § 1). Do not wait.

If you are not a Polish citizen

The same rules apply: nothing above depends on citizenship or residence status, and everyone has the right to a court (art. 45 ust. 1 of the Constitution). You need no PESEL to sue; if you have one, you give it (art. 126 § 2 pkt 2 k.p.c.). If you now live outside Poland and the EU, the landlord can ask you for security for costs, but not in the simplified procedure or EPU, and not if you are freed from court costs (art. 1119, art. 1120 pkt 2–3 k.p.c.).

What Respubliko writes, and free help

Respubliko writes the demand in Polish from your answers; you check it, sign it and send it yourself. It does not work out interest or the indexed deposit, write court papers, or go to court for you.

Free legal help (nieodpłatna pomoc prawna) is open to everyone in Poland, foreigners too, in about 1,500 points, in every county, in person, by phone or online; book at zapisy-np.ms.gov.pl (gov.pl). A lawyer there can help you write a pozew or a request to be freed from costs, and the same system offers free mediation with the landlord (gov.pl). Ask them if the landlord claims more than the deposit, if the sum is large, or if a court letter comes to you.