Refund of rent deposit for students in Warsaw: Normal wear and tear vs damage

1. No charging for normal wear and tear (Operation)

The owner may not deduct a single penny for:

• Marks on the walls: Discoloration of paint, traces of furniture or small dirt around light switches are a natural effect of human existence. Painting the walls after each tenant is the cost of running the owner’s business, not your punishment.
• Wear and tear of fittings and furniture: The worn upholstery of the chair at the desk where you studied for the September campaign, loose hinges in the cabinet or limescale deposits in the kettle/shower head (if it is not due to gross negligence) are consumables.
• Holes in the walls after pictures/dowels: If the contract does not explicitly prohibit it, hanging a shelf or a picture is an element of normal use of the premises.

2. Prohibition of “Lump sum” settlement of damages

The owner cannot say: “I take 500 zlotys, because I need to clean and repaint”.

• Documentation obligation: Each deduction must be documented by an invoice or a personal receipt for a specific service or purchase of materials.
• Damage valuation: If you have actually broken an induction hob, the owner can deduct the cost of repair or replacement for a model with similar parameters, taking into account the degree of wear and tear of the old equipment. He can’t buy a new, more expensive record at your expense if the old one was 5 years old.

3. Prohibition of charging penalties for “unprofessional cleaning”

If you are giving away the apartment in a clean state (swept, washed floors, emptied cabinets), the landlord cannot deduct the amount for hiring a cleaning company by claiming that it is “not sterile”. The cleanliness standard at return is to be the same as at receipt (according to the entry protocol).

Technical standards for the use of materials: PN-EN standards as an argument in the discussion

Most owners of apartments in Mokotów or Wola operate on a subjective feeling of “aesthetics”. You have to operate on technical standards of the consumption of building materials.

• PN-EN 13300 standard: It classifies paints according to their resistance to wet scrubbing. If the wall in your room has been painted with class 3 or 4 paint (the cheapest developer paints, often found in rental investments in Bliska Wola), then every touch leaves a mark. Legally, you cannot be held responsible for the poor quality of the finishing materials chosen by the owner. Low-grade paint rubbing off when trying to remove dust is a material defect, not your detriment.
• Panel abrasion class (AC3, AC4, AC5): If AC3 class (for home use, low-intensity) panels have been laid in the apartment, micro-scratches from the swivel chair (even with the use of a mat) are inevitable after a year of studying. According to case law, when deciding to rent, the owner must take into account the natural technical degradation of materials with low resistance.

“Tax” Strategy: When does the deposit become a negotiating tool?

In Warsaw, a large percentage of apartments rented to students of the University of Warsaw or WUT still function in the “grey zone”. Although we do not encourage blackmail, knowing the owner’s tax obligations is a powerful asset in negotiations for the return of the deposit.

• Recorded lump sum: From 2023, private leases must be settled as a lump sum (rate of 8.5% or 12.5%). If the owner refuses to transfer to the account and demands cash “in hand” (common in the vicinity of Koszykowa Street or Plac Politechniki), he probably does not pay tax.
• Question about the bill/invoice: Ask for a bill for the alleged “damages” for which the owner wants to deduct a deposit. If he does not run a business and has not reported a lease, he will not be able to legally issue such a document. The mention of the need to consult with the First Tax Office Warsaw-Śródmieście in order to verify the correctness of the settlement of these “costs” usually ends the attempt to unjustifiably deduct funds.

Tenant’s third-party liability: Why does PLN 50 a year eliminate the stress of a deposit?

This is the most overlooked aspect by students. Tenant’s liability insurance is a technical workaround for the problem of a deposit.

• Mechanism of action: If you actually cause damage (e.g. a cracked sink in the bathroom at the Banach Campus), you do not pay the deposit. You report damage from insurance.
• Legal shield: An insurer (e.g. PZU, Warta, Ergo Hestia) has an army of lawyers. If the owner demands PLN 2000 for a washbasin worth PLN 300, the insurer will pay only the real amount. It is the insurer, not you, who becomes a party to the dispute over the valuation of the damage. Having a tenant’s liability policy means that the landlord loses the opportunity to arbitrarily dispose of your deposit to cover damages covered by the policy.

Occasional vs. Regular Rental – Technical Differences in Deposit Return

In Warsaw, occasional rent (with a visit to a notary at Świętokrzyska or Marszałkowska Streets) is becoming a standard. However, students confuse the rigor of enforcement of the premises with the rigor of the deposit.

• Declaration of submission to enforcement (Article 777 of the Code of Civil Procedure): This usually concerns the obligation to vacate the premises and pay rent. It does not apply to the deposit. The landlord cannot “automatically” seize your other funds by a bailiff for damages without a court ruling, even with occasional rentals.
• Increased deposit threshold: For occasional rentals, the deposit can be up to 6 times the rent (usually 2 months). The higher the bail, the more profitable the judicial route (EPU) becomes, as the costs of the trial are fixed and the amount to be recovered is significant.

The specificity of Warsaw’s architecture and “hidden flaws”

If you rent an apartment in a tenement house in Praga-Północ or in a block of flats in Gocław, some “damages” may result from structural defects in the building for which you are not responsible.

• Thermal bridges and fungus: If a fungus has appeared behind the closet in the room, the owners often accuse students of “not vetylating”. Technically, if a building has faulty insulation (common in uninsulated blocks), no level of ventilation will prevent condensation from condensing. Do not let the deposit for “fungus removal” deduct from you. This is a structural defect of the premises.
• Cracking plaster: In new blocks of flats (e.g. in Odolany or Wilanów), buildings “settle” for the first 3-5 years. Vertical cracks on the walls are not your fault, but the fault of physical processes. The owner cannot charge you for the cost of plastering and painting these cracks.

Handover protocol: Your only legal shield

In Warsaw’s reality, where apartments in the vicinity of the Ochota Campus are changing hands, the lack of a reliable protocol is a simple way to lose money.

• Presumption of good condition: If a protocol with a list of defects and photos was not drawn up at the entrance, the law presumes that the premises were in good condition. However, the burden of proving that YOU destroyed something lies with the owner.
• Subject to signing: When handing over the apartment, if the landlord enters absurd defects in the protocol (e.g. “scratched floor” under the carpet), you add next to it: “The tenant does not agree with the defect found; the damage existed on the day of handing over the premises/results from normal operation“.
• Refusal to sign: If the owner tries to force a signature under an unfavorable protocol, you have the right to refuse to sign. Then you make your own photographic documentation in front of the witness and send the keys by registered mail (if the owner refuses to accept them).

Technical distinction between Damage and Wear and Tear

Debt collection path: How to force the owner to return (Step by step)

If 30 days have passed and your account with the USOS scholarship is empty, you turn on the legal enforcement mode.

Step 1: Final pre-trial demand for payment

You send them by registered mail with a return receipt confirmation (yellow stanza).

• Content: “I call for the return of the deposit in the amount of PLN X within 3 days to the account of Y. Basis: Article 6(4) of the Act on the Protection of Tenants’ Rights”.
• Psychology: Add the information that after the deadline you refer the case to the Electronic Writ of Payment Procedure (EPU), which will charge the owner with court costs and legal representation.

Step 2: EPU (E-Court) – Student Solution

You don’t have to hire a lawyer or go to court on Solidarności Avenue.

• Cost: The court fee is only 1.25% of the value of the dispute (e.g. with a deposit of PLN 3000 you pay PLN 37.50).
• Procedure: You register on the e-sad.gov.pl portal, describe the case, attach a scan of the contract and protocol. The court issues an order for payment, which, once it becomes final, is the basis for the bailiff.

Step 3: Bailiff

Most apartment owners in Warsaw soften when they receive an order for payment. If not – the bailiff seizes the funds on their account faster than the registration for token language courses.

Legal advice for students in Warsaw

The owner claims that he has to deduct for painting because the walls are “dirty”. What to do?

This is the most common trick in apartments close to the University of Warsaw or the Ochota Campus. According to the case law of the courts (e.g. Supreme Court judgment), the tenant is not obliged to renovate the premises (paint) if it results from normal use. If you haven’t poured wine over the walls and painted them black, refuse to knock them off. Indicate that “refreshing the paint coatings” is a necessary expenditure that burdens the owner.

The contract says that the deposit is non-refundable if I terminate it ahead of time. Is it legal?

Absolutely NO. The deposit is refundable by nature. Such a provision is the so-called abusive clause (not allowed). The owner can claim compensation for premature termination of the contract (if there was no notice period), but he cannot automatically “steal” the deposit under this pretext.

Can the owner deduct for “destroying” a 20-year-old carpet?

No. The depreciation principle is applied when settling claims. If the carpet was 20 years old, its book value is PLN 0. Even if you stained it, the owner cannot claim compensation in the amount of the price of the new carpet.

What if the owner did not come to pick up the apartment and now reports defects?

His mistake. If you informed him about the deadline for returning the apartment and he did not show up, take photos with the date (e.g. with today’s newspaper or a phone with the date turned on in the frame) and record a video showing the condition of the apartment. Any defects reported “after the fact”, when the owner already had access to the premises without your presence, are practically impossible to prove in court.

How to settle utilities when the owner does not show invoices?

You have the right to access the source invoices. Don’t pay based on “Excel calculations”. If the owner refuses to show the receipts from Veolia or E.ON, you have the right to withhold the payment of the underpayment. The deposit cannot be deducted without showing the real debt.

Can the landlord enter the apartment in my absence and check the technical condition?

In accordance with Article 10 of the Act on the Protection of Tenants’ Rights, the owner may enter the premises only in the presence of the tenant and after prior arrangement of the date (the exception is failures that threaten the property, e.g. a broken pipe). Arbitrary entry is a violation of domestic peace, which is a crime (Article 193 of the Penal Code). You can use this as an argument in bail negotiations.