Published date 04.08.2022

Such questions are increasingly being asked by landlords, especially now that nearly 5 million refugees have arrived in Poland since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Many of them have decided to stay here for more time and look for their own temporary accommodation. At the same time, many homeowners have concerns about signing a contract with a foreigner. They are usually caused by the lack of possibility to verify whether a given candidate will manage to cover rent and other rental fees. This poses quite a challenge, but there is also a proven way to handle it.

Renting an apartment to Ukrainians who are staying in Poland for a longer period

According to a survey conducted among Ukrainian refugees for the report of the Union of Polish Metropolises, as many as 28% of them pointed to finding accommodation as their main need. It can therefore be assumed that due to the prolonged conflict in their homeland, many of them will be more likely to look for long-term rental properties in the near future. At the same time, landlords still tend to have many concerns about signing a lease contract with a foreigner. Among other things, the trouble is caused by:

  • language barrier;

  • tenants lacking Polish documents;

  • difficulties in verifying a potential tenant;

  • requiring high deposits in case of problems with the tenant.

These are just some of the obstacles that may discourage landlords from signing contracts with foreigners. Some of them decide to increase the contract's security by charging high rent and security deposits. This causes landlords to miss out on many potential tenants.

How to safely rent an apartment to foreigners? The first step is to conduct a background check

The rental market in Poland is currently very active, and the demand is very high both among newly arrived foreigners and Poles. As recently as last year, the market was full of rental offers with fewer candidates. Now, the situation has inverted.

Understandably, landlords may feel insecure about assessing rental risk as they face the challenge of choosing the best and most reliable candidate. The deposit is not a sufficient means of ensuring security because when problems arise, it only covers some of the losses

– comments Piotr Kula, Rendin Poland's Business Development Manager.

Where the landlord can find support in this case is by using Rendin's background check service. As many foreigners or, more recently, refugees from Ukraine do not have an extensive financial history in Poland, our team performs individual background checks on those candidates for tenancy.

By verifying the tenant, we reduce the risk of any problems arising during the rental relationship with a foreigner. A landlord covered by our guarantee can rest assured that even if there is an issue with the tenant, we will provide legal assistance. On top of that, we will also protect them financially up to the amount of 10 months' rent

– adds Piotr Kula.

New tenants on the rental market of Polish metropolises

According to data from May 2022 over 2,3 million Ukrainians live in the 12 largest Polish cities and their metropolises. They also constitute a significant part of their populations: in the case of Gdańsk, it is 24%, in Wrocław 28%, and in Rzeszów as much as 37% of the city's population. For this reason, the rental market in the largest Polish cities must adapt despite property owners' numerous concerns. Fortunately, with the right solutions, renting can become safer for both parties. The ecosystem created by Rendin performs a background check by verifying a candidate's credit history, including any late payments.

We can also check if the monthly rental fee and the tenant's income are in a proper balance. A tenant who passes Rendin's background check does not have to pay the security deposit to the landlord. Instead, they pay a monthly fee of 2,5% of the rent for the entire duration of the rental period. This allows potential tenants to avoid the large, one-off cost associated with a high deposit, while the landlord receives a financial security guarantee of up to 10 times the monthly rent.

Background check on a foreign tenant

It is worth noting that the Rendin team is capable of performing a background check on both domestic tenants and foreigners. Regardless of nationality, if the potential tenant has had a PESEL number for a long time, Rendin can examine their payment behaviors and estimate the risk that the landlord would have to bear. Based on this, we know that we can guarantee rent payments to the landlord. If despite passing the background check, the tenant ends up not paying the rent for some reason, Rendin will cover the losses, thus solving the landlord's problem.

If the candidate for tenancy only got their PESEL number recently, our company verifies their reliability by using additional information sources, checking their employment contract and bank statements or analyzing whether their income is appropriate given the rent amount

– says Piotr Kula, Rendin Poland's Business Development Manager.

What is the best apartment rental agreement?

A private owner of a rental apartment has two options for signing a contract: a regular rental agreement and an occasional rental agreement. Both of them can be signed by a foreigner. The occasional rental agreement may only be signed for a fixed period (which is regulated by law). In the case of a basic lease agreement, the rental period is at the parties' discretion. However, we still recommend opting for a fixed time. This ensures much greater security to the landlord when compared to an indefinite contract, which is very difficult to terminate and may make getting rid of a problematic tenant into a long and difficult process that will not necessarily have a happy ending. That is why we recommend opting for occasional rental agreements. To sign one of them, the tenant has to present:

  • an indication of the replacement accommodation the tenant will move to after the end of the contract;

  • a declaration by the owner of the above-mentioned accommodation that they will accept the tenant under their roof;

  • a declaration by the tenant on voluntary submission to eviction enforcement.

The declaration of voluntary submission to eviction enforcement has to be presented by the tenant in the form of a notarial deed, which makes a possible eviction and recovering the apartment not only faster but in some cases even at all possible. Read more about this in the article Rendin: We've Made Occasional Renting Better

Occasional rental with a citizen of Ukraine: special act

Signing rental agreements with refugees from Ukraine has been additionally regulated in a special act, "On assistance to citizens of Ukraine in connection with armed conflict on the territory of that country", the provisions of which have made this process easier. Under the special act, a tenant who is a citizen of Ukraine does not have to indicate replacement accommodation they will move to after the contract is finalized or terminated to sign an occasional rental agreement. Consequently, neither do they have to present a declaration by the owner of such accommodation that he will take the tenant under their roof. This makes it easier to sign an occasional rental agreement with a refugee, because for obvious reasons, they may not be able to obtain such a declaration.

Keep in mind that if you verify a potential tenant and sign an appropriate contract with them, renting is still a good way to get a stable return on your property, regardless of the tenant's nationality.

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