Signing a Polish rental agreement (umowa najmu): the clauses to check before you sign

Why this deserves its own checklist

A rental agreement (umowa najmu) is usually the first serious legal document a newcomer signs in Poland — and it's almost always written only in Polish, with no legal requirement for the landlord to provide a translation. Signing without fully understanding every clause is common, and it's also where a lot of later disputes (see our article on deposit disputes) actually originate. This is a practical checklist of what to look at closely before you sign anything.

The deposit terms

• The exact amount, and exactly what conditions must be met for it to be returned in full.
• Whether the lease specifies a timeframe for the landlord to return the deposit after you move out (some do, some don't — if it's silent, that's worth clarifying directly).
• Whether the deposit can be used to cover the final month's rent — some leases explicitly forbid this, others allow it; know which applies to yours.

The termination and notice clauses

• The notice period required from each side to end the lease early.
• Whether the lease includes a najem okazjonalny declaration (see our dedicated article on this) — this changes what happens if things go wrong, so know whether it applies to your agreement.
• Any penalty clauses for ending the lease early, and exactly what triggers them.

What's actually included in the rent

• Whether utilities (electricity, gas, water, internet, building maintenance fee — czynsz administracyjny) are included in the quoted rent or billed separately, and if separately, how they're calculated and billed.
• Whether furniture, appliances, and their condition are documented anywhere in writing — an unwritten assumption about "what's included" is a common source of later disagreement.

Registration and address matters

• Whether the landlord will cooperate with your address registration (meldunek) if you need it — some landlords resist this for reasons unrelated to you (e.g. their own tax situation), which can create problems for your own paperwork later. Clarify this before signing, not after you need the registration.

Before you sign: get it properly explained if you're not confident in your Polish

If your Polish isn't strong enough to read every clause confidently, get the lease translated or explained by someone you trust before signing — not after a dispute arises. A lease is a binding document regardless of whether you understood every word of it when you signed.

This is general information, not legal advice

Lease terms vary significantly between landlords and properties. For a lease involving significant money or an unusual clause you don't understand, a quick professional review before signing is far cheaper than a dispute after the fact.