POTENTIAL REPRIVATISATION CLAIMS IN POLAND – Part 2 of 5.
In Poland, restitution claims are a repercussion of nationalisation processes carried out under many different regulations in force under the communist regime. There is no reprivatisation law that would generally regulate such claims. Legal grounds for those claims are usually irregularities of the nationalisation process under the then-applicable regulations.
It is commonly accepted in Polish jurisprudence and among legal commentators that a bona fide purchaser of a title to a real property for consideration is protected against potential restitution claims by the “public trustworthiness of land and mortgage registers” if the land and mortgage registers do not disclose restitution claims of pre-war owners.
However, it is not clear what actions a purchaser should take before its purchase of a property in order to be deemed a bona fide purchaser (i.e. to be deemed unable to “easily become aware of” restitution claims). In practice, to be on the safe side, legal advisors of purchasers who are business entities (and to whom, therefore, higher professional standards of conduct may apply) request the authorities competent to deal with potential restitution claims to confirm that no administrative proceedings concerning such claims are pending.
In order to ensure that there are no such claims, interested person may request confirmation applying to: (i) the Local Government Board of Appeal (Samorządowe Kolegium Odwoławcze), (ii) the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy, (iii) the Voivodship Office (Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódzki) and especially in case of properties located in Warsaw (iv) the Municipal Office (Urząd Miejski).