What Is a "Guarantee" (Poręczenie) for an Occasional Lease in Poland?

For an occasional lease (najem okazjonalny), a "guarantee" (poręczenie) is the colloquial name for a statement by the owner of another property (or a person with legal title to it) (oświadczenie właściciela), agreeing that the tenant and the people living with them may move in there if the tenant has to leave the rented flat through enforcement. It is a mandatory attachment to an occasional lease agreement. Despite the name, the person who signs it is not liable for the tenant's debts.

Where the name "guarantee" comes from and what the law says

The occasional lease is governed by Art. 19a–19e of the Act of 21 June 2001 on the Protection of Tenants' Rights, Municipal Housing Stock and Amendment of the Civil Code (ustawa o ochronie praw lokatorów, mieszkaniowym zasobie gminy i o zmianie Kodeksu cywilnego, consolidated text Dz.U. z 2023 r. poz. 725 as amended). Under Art. 19a(2), the following in particular are attached to an occasional lease agreement:

1. the tenant's statement in the form of a notarial deed, in which they submit to enforcement and undertake to vacate and hand over the flat by the deadline set in the owner's demand;
2. the tenant's indication of another property where they will be able to live if the obligation to vacate the flat is enforced;
3. a statement by the owner of that property, or a person with legal title to it, consenting to the tenant and the people living with them moving in there.

The market calls the document in point 3 a "guarantee", an "address for the occasional lease" or a "move-out address". The name is misleading. A surety (poręczenie) within the meaning of Art. 876 of the Civil Code (Kodeks cywilny) is an undertaking to perform someone else's obligation, e.g. to pay a debt. The statement under Art. 19a(2)(3) has no such effect: its author does not pay rent or compensation on the tenant's behalf, but merely agrees that the tenant may live with them. If the landlord wants someone to actually guarantee payments, a separate surety agreement is needed. The surety's declaration must then be made in writing on pain of invalidity (Art. 876 § 2 of the Civil Code).

Why the landlord needs this statement

A notarial deed in which the tenant submitted to enforcement of the obligation to hand over the flat is an enforceable instrument (Art. 777 § 1(4) of the Code of Civil Procedure (Kodeks postępowania cywilnego)). If, after the agreement expires or is terminated, the tenant does not move out voluntarily, the owner:

1. serves the tenant with a written demand to vacate the flat bearing an officially certified signature, setting a deadline of no less than 7 days (Art. 19d(2)–(3) of the Act);
2. once that deadline has passed without effect, applies to the court for an enforcement clause to be attached to the deed (Art. 19d(4)), which the court considers without delay, and no later than within 3 days (Art. 781¹ of the Code of Civil Procedure);
3. takes the enforceable title to a bailiff (komornik).

In an eviction, the bailiff removes the debtor to another place where they can live. If there is no such place, the bailiff suspends enforcement until the municipality (gmina) provides temporary accommodation (Art. 1046 § 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure). The statement of consent provides in advance a place to which the tenant can move. That is exactly why it is key to the speed of the whole procedure. An additional condition: the owner must report the agreement to the head of the tax office (urząd skarbowy) within 14 days of the start of the lease. Without this notification, Art. 19c and 19d do not apply (Art. 19b(3)).

Who can make the statement

• An owner of a flat who is a natural person, e.g. a parent, another relative or a friend. They do not have to be related to the tenant.
• A legal person, e.g. a company that owns a flat. It is then signed by the persons authorised to represent it. This is what a "guarantee from an organisation" looks like in practice, e.g. from an employer that owns a residential flat.
• A person holding another legal title to the property, e.g. a cooperative ownership right to the flat (spółdzielcze własnościowe prawo do lokalu).

The person signing should have full legal capacity. If the flat has several co-owners, it is safer for all of them to sign the statement. The law has no separate rules for students or foreigners: a student can present, for example, a statement from their parents, and we discuss the situation of people with no family in Poland in our article on guarantees for foreigners.

What the statement should contain – checklist

• details of the person making the statement: full name, PESEL number or ID document number and address, and for a company its name, KRS number and the details of its representatives;
• the full address of the property where the tenant will be able to live, ideally with the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) number;
• the legal title to that property (ownership, cooperative right, etc.);
• the tenant's details and clear consent for the tenant and the people living with them to live there, because that is how the Act puts it;
• a link to the specific agreement, e.g. the address of the rented flat and the landlord's details;
• the date and a handwritten signature and, if the landlord requires it, notarial certification of the signature.

Does the signature have to be notarially certified?

Not always. Art. 19a(2)(3) provides that the statement with a notarially certified signature is attached at the landlord's request. So it is worth asking the landlord about this before you start gathering documents. The notary certifies the authenticity of the signature (Art. 96(1) of the Notaries Act (ustawa – Prawo o notariacie)). This confirms the identity of the person signing, but does not verify that the content is true or that they own the property. From 5 November 2026 the maximum fee for such a certification is 60 zł net; previously it was 20 zł (§ 13(1)(b) of the Regulation of the Minister of Justice on maximum notarial fees, as amended by the Regulation of 13 October 2026, Dz.U. z 2026 r. poz. 1370). VAT is added to the fee. We write more about the notary's role in our article A notary for an occasional lease – is it mandatory.

How long the statement is valid

The Act does not set a period of validity for this document. In practice, the statement relates to a specific agreement and remains in force as long as that agreement does. If it refers to a specific agreement or rented flat, a new copy is needed for each new occasional lease agreement, including an "extension" in the form of a new agreement. The law does not prevent the same owner from making statements for different tenants. Each agreement should, however, have its own attachment.

Changing the address or the person who made the statement

Circumstances may change during the lease: the owner sells the property, withdraws consent or dies. Art. 19a(3) provides that if the tenant loses the possibility of living at the named property, they have 21 days from the day they learned of this to name another property and present a new statement. If they do not, the landlord may terminate the agreement in writing with a notice period of at least 7 days (Art. 19d(5)). In practice, the same applies where the person who made the statement "changes their mind" after the agreement has been signed. If they back out before the agreement is signed, you simply need to find someone else.

1. Agree on a new property with its owner.
2. Prepare a new statement, with a certified signature if the landlord required one.
3. Deliver it to the landlord before the 21 days are up and keep proof of delivery.
4. If the address of the property was written into the agreement, amend it with an annex. Amendments to an occasional lease agreement must be made in writing on pain of invalidity (Art. 19a(6)).

Losing your own copy does not affect the validity of the statement, because the landlord holds the copy attached to the agreement. The tenant can ask for a copy or for a new copy to be signed.

How the landlord can check the statement

1. Land and mortgage register. In the Electronic Land and Mortgage Registers system (ekw.ms.gov.pl) you can view a register free of charge by its number and check whether the person who signed the statement is listed as owner in section II.
2. Identity. Ask for the signature to be certified by a notary or for it to be made in your presence, on production of an identity document.
3. Company representation. If the statement is made by a company, check in the National Court Register (KRS) that it was signed by persons authorised to represent it.
4. Consistent details. The address, the register number and the personal details must match across all documents.

Warning signs include no land and mortgage register number, details that do not match the register, blank fields filled in after the signature was certified, and a document available only as a scan.

The most common mistakes

Frequently asked questions