Case study: Filip Kowarski and a fraudster tenant

Filip Kowarski is an experienced landlord who knows how important it is to rent an apartment safely. That is why he chose the occasional rental agreement with Rendin and thus gained the best agreement protection in Poland. It protected him from financial losses when a fraudster tenant appeared on his doorstep.

The professional landlord uses Rendin

If you make money renting out your property, sooner or later, you will come across an untrustworthy or dishonest person who wants to take advantage of the fact that you are playing fair. This is what happened to our client and the protagonist of this story.

Filip Kowarski has 4 rental units and years of experience in the industry, and a secure rental relationship is an absolute priority for him. The occasional rental agreement he signs with each of his tenant provides him with a simplified and quick eviction process in the event of a breach of the terms of this agreement.

Another element of rental protection for Filip Kowarski is the tenants' liability insurance, which he requires to be taken out after signing the lease. However, even these elements do not provide sufficient security, which is why the landlord decided to use Rendin's financial guarantee.

Rendin considers the risk that the tenant may fail to pay for the rent or other services and damage the property and furnishings. In such situations, the company compensates the landlord of the lost money up to as much as 10 times the monthly rental fee.

Renting out doesn't always go smoothly

The occasional rental agreement signed via Rendin and the financial guarantee given to Filip Kowarski were soon to prove very helpful and save him from financial loss.

Filip's new tenant was Ms. Małgorzata, a 20-year-old signing a rental agreement for the first time. As she was friendly during the pre-tenancy contacts and had passed the Rendin verification, the landlord did not expect any problems.

Unfortunately, reality verified his optimism after only a few days.

When the first rent did not arrive in the account by the due date, Filip asked the tenant about the payment. As a response, she sent him a receipt from her bank, which briefly reassured the landlord.

However, as the days passed, the rent for the flat still did not arrive. Ms Małgorzata also failed to send the landlord a confirmation of third-party liability insurance, even though this condition was in the agreement.

When Filip tried to contact the landlord by email, then by text message, and finally called her, but all attempts proved unsuccessful, he already knew he had a severe problem.

When the landlord managed, after many attempts, to get the tenant to respond, Ms Małgorzata recited a litany of the most typical excuses, probably known to every landlord. The worst had happened to her: hospital, illness, family problems, the death of a loved one, the bank not sending a transfer, all at once, of course.

Rendin guarantees a secure renting experience

Filip Kowarski knew that he had to turn to the professionals. After contacting Rendin's customer service, he was reassured that he would get compensation for the lost money and Rendin's legal department would help him terminate the rental agreement as soon as possible.

The tenant accepted the termination notice, which ordered her to move out of the property by the end of the month. However, it appeared that she did not intend to return the premises to the landlord at all. Again, there were problems with contact and no response to messages from Rendin team.

Rendin experts took a closer look at the confirmation of the alleged transfer that Ms Małgorzata had sent to the landlord. It soon became apparent that some elements of it, such as the name of the recipient of the transfer, its title and the amount, were written in a different font from that used by the bank for the rest of the document.

A lie has short legs

It is unclear what the landlord was motivated by when she forged the bank document. After all, she must have known that Filip would eventually realise why the transfer did not reach his account, and then the truth would come out. She almost certainly did not comprehend that such forgery is a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years in prison.

When the Rendin team finally managed to get in touch with Ms Małgorzata, they informed her about suspicion that the bank document she previously provided to Filip Kowarski as confirmation of the rent transfer was forgery.

The tenant, of course, denied everything, but she was visibly deflated and moved out of the flat after only a few days. She must have realised that, in addition to the debt, her new problem could be the prosecution (in connection with a violation of article 270 of the Criminal Code).

Rendin quickly brought the case to a successful conclusion

After the fraudulent tenant had moved out, it became apparent that the apartment also needed to be refreshed before the next rental, as Ms Małgorzata did not take care of the cleanliness of the property she was living in.

Filip Kowarski was prudent and signed the occasional rental agreement with Rendin, and was thus protected by a guarantee to compensate him for losses. Not only caused by the tenant's debt, but also for other expenses regading property damage.

As soon as, Rendin received the set of documents and analysed its contents, the claim submission was accepted in full, and the landlord received a compensation total of PLN 5100.

Ms Małgorzata received a pre-court demand for payment in June 2023. Rendin is still awaiting payment in the amount of the compensation paid by the company to Filip Kowarski, plus additional costs. If payment is not made the matter will be referred to court and then to a bailiff.

A secure rental agreement with Rendin is the best decision

Filip Kowarski could have protected his occasional tenancy with the outdated solution of a deposit. In such a situation, he would only have taken over a deposit of one month's rent, i.e. 2100 zł, against his losses.

Unfortunately, this would not have covered all the tenant's arrears and other costs, which ultimately amounted to 5100 zł. In this situation instead of making a profit on the rent, Filip would have lost his nerves and PLN 3,000. Fortunately, thanks to the financial guarantee, Rendin recovered all the money owed to him.

This table shows that a simple deposit gives the landlord almost non-existent protection. Meanwhile, Rendin's loss compensation guarantee is the certainty that in the event of debts and damage to the property, the landlord will get the money back.