Log in
Autor: Michał Tomaszewski, CEO najem-okazjonalny.com
Updated: February 2026
In recent
years, I have handled hundreds of occasional lease agreement processes – both
on behalf of apartment owners and professional property managers. One thing I
can say with full conviction: today, the occasional lease is the only form of
rental that truly protects the interests of the property owner.
The problem
is that a single formal mistake – one missed deadline, one missing declaration
– and all that protection disappears. The agreement is then treated as an
ordinary lease, and the prospect of recovering the apartment extends from
several months to several years.
In this
article, I will guide you through the entire process of concluding an
occasional lease agreement – from the first arrangements with the tenant,
through a visit to the notary, to the notification to the tax office. I will
describe specific costs, required documents, and the most common pitfalls I
encounter in daily practice.
What Is
an Occasional Lease and Why Is It Worth Choosing?
An
occasional lease is a special form of residential lease regulated in Articles
19a–19e of the Act of 21 June 2001 on the Protection of Tenants’ Rights, the
Municipal Housing Stock and Amendments to the Civil Code (consolidated text:
Journal of Laws 2023, item 725). These provisions have not been directly
amended in 2024–2026, which means the rules described below are fully up to
date.
The key
advantage of this form of lease over a standard agreement lies in the radical
simplification of the procedure for recovering the premises from a tenant who
refuses to vacate voluntarily. Instead of a lengthy court eviction process –
which in practice lasts from two to even five years – the owner uses a
shortened path based on a notarial deed. The entire procedure, from the first
demand to the actual bailiff eviction, usually takes between three and eight
months.
Additionally,
pursuant to Article 19e, most of the restrictive provisions of the tenant
protection act do not apply to a properly concluded occasional lease. In
practice, this translates into three significant benefits: no obligation to
provide social housing (the bailiff evicts the tenant to the premises indicated
in the declaration, or, if unavailable, to a shelter), no winter protection
period (eviction is possible all year round, including the months from November
to March), and flexible rules for rent increases, which the parties may freely
determine in the agreement.
The mere fact that
the tenant must submit a declaration of voluntary submission to enforcement in
the form of a notarial deed has a preventive effect. Potentially problematic
individuals withdraw from renting already at the stage of learning about the
required formalities, allowing owners to avoid trouble before it arises.
Who Can
Conclude an Occasional Lease Agreement?
The Act
sets four conditions that must be met jointly. First, the landlord may only be
a natural person who owns the premises and does not conduct business activity
in the field of renting properties. Second, the subject of the agreement must
be residential premises serving housing needs. Third, the agreement must be
concluded for a fixed term. Fourth, the maximum lease period may not exceed ten
years – after that, a new agreement may be concluded.
Legal
entities, companies, or real estate agencies wishing to rent premises under a
simplified regime should use the separate institution of institutional lease,
regulated in Articles 19f–19s of the same Act.
The
agreement must be concluded in writing under pain of nullity. Importantly, the
agreement itself does not require the form of a notarial deed – that form is
reserved exclusively for the tenant’s declaration of submission to enforcement,
as described below.
Three
Mandatory Attachments – The Foundation of the Owner’s Protection
The
effectiveness of an occasional lease rests on three documentary pillars. The
absence of any of the attachments listed in Article 19a(2) results in the
agreement formally losing its occasional character and being treated as an
ordinary lease – with all unfavorable consequences for the owner.
Attachment
One: the tenant’s declaration of submission to enforcement in the form of
a notarial deed. This is the key document of the entire structure. The tenant
declares before a notary that they undertake to vacate and hand over the
premises within the deadline specified in the landlord’s demand. The
declaration constitutes an enforcement title within the meaning of Article 777
§1 point 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which means that once it is granted
an enforcement clause by the court, it may serve as the basis for bailiff
enforcement – without the need to conduct separate eviction proceedings. The
landlord’s presence at the notary is not required; the tenant appears in person
with a valid identity document and the original signed agreement.
Attachment
Two: the tenant’s written indication of alternative premises. The tenant
specifies the exact address of premises where they will be able to reside in
the event of enforcement of the obligation to vacate the rented apartment. This
is not a formality – that address constitutes the place to which the bailiff
will carry out the eviction.
Attachment
Three: a declaration of the owner of the alternative premises expressing
consent for the tenant to reside there. The owner of the indicated premises (or
another person holding legal title to them) provides written consent for the
tenant and accompanying persons to reside there. The landlord has the right to
request that the signature on this declaration be notarized – this
significantly increases the credibility of the document. In our daily practice,
we always recommend this.
An
important rule regarding the change of alternative premises: it sometimes
happens that private owners of the indicated premises withdraw their consent
during the lease period. In such cases, the tenant, having lost the possibility
of residing in the indicated premises, must, within twenty-one days, indicate
new premises and present a new declaration from the owner. Failure to comply
with this obligation entitles the landlord to terminate the agreement with at
least seven days’ notice.
Procedure
for Concluding the Agreement – Six Steps
Step 1:
Tenant verification and agreement on terms.
Before signing anything, it is worth taking the time to thoroughly verify the
future tenant – checking rental history, income stability, and whether they
have a real alternative address. At this stage, the parties negotiate the
amount of rent, the lease period (up to ten years), the deposit amount (maximum
six times the monthly rent), utility settlement rules, and possible termination
conditions.
Step 2:
Drafting and signing the agreement.
The agreement is concluded in writing – both parties sign it personally. At the
same time, Attachment No. 2 (indication of alternative premises) and Attachment
No. 3 (declaration of the owner of the alternative premises) are prepared and
signed. A properly constructed agreement should precisely reference Articles
19a–19e of the Act, include full identification data of the parties (including
PESEL numbers), a detailed description of the premises with the land and mortgage
register number, clear provisions regarding rent and its indexation mechanism,
and an exhaustive list of termination grounds.
Step 3:
Visit to the notary.
The tenant appears in person at the notary’s office with an identity card (or
passport) and the original signed agreement. The notary verifies identity,
reads and explains the content of the declaration of submission to enforcement,
and then prepares the notarial deed. At least two copies are issued – one for
the tenant and one for the landlord. In our practice, we always recommend
ordering a third copy in case the original must be submitted to the court.
Step 4:
Handover protocol and transfer of premises.
Before handing over the keys, the parties prepare a detailed protocol
describing the technical condition of the apartment, the condition of the
equipment, and meter readings. The date of handing over the premises is
important not only practically – it determines the deadline for notification to
the tax office.
Step 5:
Payment of the deposit.
The tenant pays the agreed security deposit – not higher than six times the
monthly rent. The deposit must be returned within one month from the date the
premises are vacated, after deduction of any amounts owed to the owner.
Step 6:
Notification to the tax office.
This is the step whose omission has the most serious consequences – and
unfortunately is the most common mistake encountered in practice. The landlord
is obliged to notify the head of the tax office competent for their place of
residence (not the location of the rented apartment) of the conclusion of the
agreement. The deadline is fourteen days from the date the lease begins – that
is, from the date the premises are handed over, not from the date the agreement
is signed. The notification may be submitted in person, by registered mail, or
electronically via the e-Tax Office on the portal podatki.gov.pl. There is no
official form – a written notice containing the parties’ details, the address
of the premises, and the dates of conclusion and commencement of the lease is
sufficient.
Notarial
Costs – Specific Amounts for 2025 and 2026
One of the
most frequent questions from our clients concerns costs. The maximum notarial
fee for preparing the declaration of submission to enforcement is strictly
regulated by law and amounts to one-tenth of the minimum wage. Since the
minimum wage changes annually, notarial fees are also updated accordingly.
In 2025,
with the minimum wage at PLN 4,666, the maximum notarial fee net is PLN 466.60,
which after adding 23% VAT gives a gross amount of PLN 573.92. In 2026, the
minimum wage increased to PLN 4,806, therefore the net fee is PLN 480.60, and
the gross fee PLN 591.14. Additionally, there is the cost of copies of the
notarial deed (PLN 6 net per page, i.e., PLN 7.38 gross) and possible
certification of the signature of the owner of the alternative premises (PLN 20
net / PLN 24.60 gross).
The total
cost of the notary visit therefore amounts to approximately PLN 620–670 gross
in 2025 and PLN 640–690 gross in 2026. The Act does not regulate which party
bears this cost – in practice, it is most often charged to the landlord,
although the parties may agree otherwise.
From the
perspective of potential costs of a multi-year problematic lease – lost rent,
damaged equipment, lawyers’ fees – this is an investment that pays off many
times over.
Five Most Common Mistakes We See in Practice
First,
failure to notify the tax office or exceeding the fourteen-day deadline.
Without proper notification, Articles 19c and 19d do not apply, and the court
will refuse to grant an enforcement clause to the notarial deed because proof
of notification is a mandatory attachment to the application. In practice, the
agreement loses its occasional character.
Second,
inconsistency of dates between the notarial declaration and the agreement.
Third,
failure to verify the legal title of the owner of the alternative premises.
Fourth,
notifying the wrong tax office.
What
Happens If the Tenant Refuses to Vacate?
After the
lease expires or is terminated and the tenant does not vacate voluntarily, the
owner serves a written demand to vacate the premises, bearing an officially
certified signature. The demand must indicate the parties, the agreement, the
reason for termination, and set a deadline of no less than seven days.
After the
deadline expires, the owner applies to the district court for an enforcement
clause. The court fee is PLN 50. The court usually grants the clause within one
to four weeks.
Armed with
an enforceable title, the owner initiates bailiff enforcement.
The entire
procedure usually takes three to eight months. In comparison, under a standard
lease, the same process takes two to five years.
Summary
An
occasional lease is not complicated – but it requires precision.
Three
elements determine its effectiveness:
a properly prepared notarial deed, timely notification to the tax office within
fourteen days from the commencement of the lease, and complete and valid
alternative premises documentation.
Autor: Michał Tomaszewski, CEO najem-okazjonalny.com
Updated: February 2026
