Legal process of buying a house in Poland
The legal process is conducted by a notary in Poland. The estate agent's job in Poland includes obtaining all relevant documents concerned with the transaction and delivering them to the notary. A meeting is arranged with all parties concerned - the sellers, buyers, estate agent and notary.
A contract of purchase is drawn up which the notary reads aloud to all present around the table. Any ambiguities are clarified and the notary ascertains that there are no outstanding debts on the property that have not been revealed, and that all facts regarding the property are correct.
In our case, proceedings were stopped when the notary saw that the land and house plans were out-of-date and appeared incorrect. She insisted that the plans were redrawn. We had to wait until surveyors redrew plans which took about 2 months and then all met together again at the notary to complete the proceedings.
Once contracts have been agreed and signed by sellers, buyers and the notary, a 2% purchase tax is payable to the Polish Government, the purchase is written into the land registry and local council informed so that they can bill you for council tax. I am told that the process of informing the council can take several months.
You are presented with the contract and associated documents to store.
