Physical and Legal Defects
The Civil Code's statutory warranty (rękojmia) obliging a seller to answer for defects in a sold property — physical defects that reduce its value or usability, and legal defects such as an undisclosed third-party right or ownership claim — regardless of whether the seller knew about them.
Сфера дії: Польща.
Визначення
Under Article 556 and following of the Civil Code, a seller is liable to the buyer under statutory warranty (rękojmia za wady) for defects in the thing sold, a rule that applies to real estate transactions as much as to any other sale. The Code distinguishes two categories: a physical defect (wada fizyczna) is when the property lacks the properties it should have given its intended use or what was represented to the buyer — for example, a structural problem, a hidden dampness issue, or missing features that were promised — while a legal defect (wada prawna) is when the property is, in whole or part, someone else's property, or is burdened by a third party's right the buyer wasn't told about, such as an undisclosed lease, an unregistered easement, or a disputed inheritance claim.
This warranty applies regardless of whether the seller was aware of the defect, though the parties can modify or exclude it by agreement within the limits the Code allows — a private, non-business seller has more room to limit this liability than a professional seller such as a developer. If a defect surfaces, the buyer generally has remedies including a price reduction, withdrawal from the contract in serious cases, and — where the seller acted in bad faith by concealing a known defect — the statutory time limits for raising a claim are extended.
Приклади
A buyer discovers months after closing that the roof structure has a defect the seller never disclosed — a physical defect claim under the statutory warranty, distinct from anything the buyer could have discovered simply by checking the land and mortgage register.
A buyer learns after signing that the property is subject to an unregistered right of way the previous owner never mentioned — a legal defect, since it's a third-party right the seller failed to disclose.
A developer's sale contract for a new unit narrows, but cannot fully exclude, its statutory warranty liability, unlike what a private individual selling their own resale apartment might be able to negotiate.
Як це впливає на купівлю та продаж
Buyers should not assume that a clean land and mortgage register check rules out a legal defect claim — an unregistered right or an undisclosed dispute can still exist outside the register. Sellers, meanwhile, benefit from disclosing known issues upfront in the preliminary agreement or during negotiations, since concealing a known physical or legal defect both extends the buyer's window to make a claim and exposes the seller to a stronger case than an honest, disclosed flaw ever would.
