How is it that foreigners as Tenants are often preferred more by Landlords, How to find such a Tenant and safely process the Lease Agreement?
The Landlord’s set of security tools in the Landlord-Tenant relationship when dealing with a Tenant who is a foreigner, is really no different from the one the Landlord has at their disposal when the candidate for tenant is a Polish citizen. One could even argue that certain proven security measures have no real application and their implantation is at least problematic. Let’s take, for example, the currently popular form of ‘occasional lease’ – ‘najem okazjonalny’. Most foreigners coming to Poland on contracts with international institutions will, for obvious reasons, not be able to indicate a replacement premises for a notarial agreement. There are of course possibilities of processing such an agreement by purchasing a proverbial address, but going down this path you can already see how difficulties are starting to pile up. An ‘institutional lease’ –‘najem okazjonalny’ agreement can also be used without the requirement to indicate the address of the substitute premises, based only on the tenant’s declaration in the form of a deed of submission to enforcement regarding the vacating and handing over of the premises, but not every owner of the premises runs a business in the field of residential rental, which is a necessity in the case of this form.
So why is a large part of professional renters not only not afraid of foreigners as tenants but even prefers them? The answer to this question is the correct ‘Tenant Verification’.
One of the main, if not the most important, elements of starting the process of renting premises and entering into a Landlord-Tenant relationship is the correct verification of the candidate for Tenant.
By carrying out this process at the initial stage, we can avoid many problems in the further process of the lease agreement and already during the landlord-tenant relationship.
So a few practical tips:
A tenant interview and an open-source intelligence are essential. It is always worth confirming whether the candidate for tenant has a job, in what position and for what period of time their contract in Poland is. The request to present an employment contract is not invasive and should not be a problem from the perspective of a potential Tenant. Refusal to present this document, without credible justification why this is an obstacle from the candidate’s point of view, should be treated as a potential red flag. It is always worth asking the Tenant for a reference from the previous owner of the premises that was rented to our candidate.
Candidates who come to Poland to run their own business may constitute a high-risk group and it is good to understand this. In such a situation, you can apply for payment in advance for the entire rental period of the premises, but you must also consider the consequences that this may have. And here, I guess it goes without saying that the attractiveness of such a rental offer from the perspective of potential Tenants may change.
More advanced verification techniques are available through companies offering such services and it is worth using such tools. Verification in terms of identity, earnings and not being listed in the debtor database can save us a lot of trouble and problematic situations in the future.
It is very important at the stage of considering the candidacy for a potential Tenant to discuss the issue of “Lifestyle”. For example, whether the candidate will live alone or with their better half, what are their hobbies – do they like traveling – animals – aromatic cuisine – sports, or maybe loud music. Collecting such basic information at this stage will help us prepare appropriate provisions in the Lease Agreement that optimize and secure the safety of the entire Lease process.
It is worth paying attention to small things during the presentation of the apartment. When a potential candidate asks whether to take off their shoes when entering the apartment, it may mean that they accept our culture standards and will take care of the apartment and its hygiene. The lack of minimal humility at the meeting may mean a lack of acceptance of the prevailing standards and a demanding attitude in the future.
In the case of renting premises to foreigners, it is also worth knowing a foreign language, at least English at a communicative level. In the absence of this skill, it is worth having someone on standby who has it.
To sum up, it is good to remember that our goal as a renter is to maintain the continuity of the Lease and minimize downtime, and therefore maintaining flexibility is very important. It is not the case that all the tools increasing safety must be implemented simultaneously and every time. Maintaining common sense in all this is the basis for achieving the above-described goals, and professional consultation on issues related to the Lease is irreplaceable.
