The owner of the apartment did not expect such a situation. “I froze”

It is a two -room apartment in one of Warsaw's housing estates. Today it was worth about a million zlotys, but a few years ago it was issued for about three hundred thousand zlotys. – The case in court lasted three years. I couldn't sleep, I experienced huge stress. I was even afraid to leave the apartment for a moment, so that no stranger would take him away from me again – Mrs. Anna (name changed) begins to tell her story.

He reserves that she did everything according to the law. She signed a contract with tenants and reported it to the tax office. – It did not occur to me to check on the web that the tenant is not throwing the offer of the sale of an apartment, which is my property and wants to sell it for pennies – he is nervous in an interview with the business editors of tvn24.pl.

Our interlocutor emphasizes that for the first few months cooperation with tenants was very good. It was a woman and a man, they were in a relationship. They paid for rent on time, took care of the apartment, no one had any objections to anyone.

– I was in constant contact with them. Half a year passed and I noticed that they had a problem with money. It happened that they lacked several hundred zlotys for rent. A warning lamp came on and I decided to terminate the contract with a two -month notice period. When they found out that I said goodbye to them, they started working – reports Mrs. Anna.

And he mentions that the tenants took pictures of the apartment, put an offer to the network. A real estate agency quickly contacted them, which proposed cooperation for a percentage of sales. They agreed and thus credible the process for the buyer. – I learned about the way they acted during the lawsuit – our interlocutor spreads his hands.

She learned from the person who claimed that she bought the apartment. As we hear, she was a mother who looked after her disabled child. The apartment was to spend all the savings. Mrs. Anna received a message from her asking why she did not come to the meeting on the agreed date and did not pass the keys.

– She found me on the internet, in social media. If this person was not substituted and was not part of any larger gang, it is a drama of all sides. I froze. Then my trouble began. I quickly went to the police, reported a notification about the possibility of committing a crime and an attempt to extort an apartment. With this document I went to court to try to leave a trace in the land and mortgage registers that something is wrong. I was afraid that the buyer would try to sell my apartment to another person. He would have the right to do so because he became its owner after leaving the notary public. And then things would be too complicated to be able to reverse them – explains the woman.

How did it sell? – We ask. Mrs. Anna tells us that the tenants were already signing the contract for the rental of the apartment, they used counterfeit IDs.

– They had my data, they created a party of documents that they used with a notary public – he emphasizes.

He explains that when we buy a property, a notary public is obliged to verify on the basis of an ID card who the transactions are.

– Someone used a counterfeit document where my data was listed. Everything was correct, except the photo. People who sold my apartment came to a notary public with counterfeit plastic – says the woman.

Read also: Digital fakes of ID cards flood the Internet

Our interlocutor tells us that today she would not buy a flat just like that. – If I see an interesting offer on the web, I would go to the address indicated and knock on the door of the neighbors, in a block of flats where I would like to buy a flat. I would ask them if I could leave my phone number to transfer it to the real owner of the apartment. The choice of notary is also crucial. Wherever I can talk about my history and please take into account that things that have never been dreaming of anyone can happen – he points out.

In her opinion, the rental of real estate is a popular but risky investment. – We give back something that is worth the property of someone we don't know. We sign a contract on the basis of which we have to pay taxes, but this contract, as you can see in my example, does not protect us at all. We are actually left alone in every situation: someone will extort a flat, destroy it or be a wild tenant. In case of problems, we must spend our money, look for outstanding lawyers to claim justice in courts – Anna sensitizes.

At the same time, she informs that by the decision of a final court judgment, the apartment was returned to her.

Another story is from Poznań. At the end of 2024, the Poznań police said that for three months a 68-year-old was arrested, who at the beginning of November 2024 impersonated a policeman. Showed a forged police ID and concluded a contract for renting an apartment On the estate Kosmonautów in Poznań. In the procedure, he also used counterfeit ID.

Less than a month later, he used the counterfeit ID card, dressed up as a woman, trying to make himself like the owner of the apartment and he wanted to sell the rented premises that was not belonging to him. Earlier he issued an advertisement on a popular portal.

As the police explain, the perpetrator met with a real estate agent to finish off the market. A vigilant agent did not believe the cheater and decided to talk to the neighbors. Thanks to them, he contacted the real owner of the apartment by phone.

“The man who tried to sell the apartment was brought to the prosecutor's office, where he heard, among others, allegations of attempted fraud of considerable value, impersonating another person and the use of counterfeit documents. He committed these acts in recurrent conditions. Earlier he was repeatedly punished for crimes of a similar nature. The decision of the court at the request of the prosecutor's office for three months went to the arrest. 15 years imprisonment ” – we read in the communication of the Poznań police.

Read: The actor tried to sell an apartment to which he did not have the right to

Sławomir Wroński, spokesman for the Notary Chamber in Gdańsk, in an interview with tvn24.pl ensures that with each day the protection of buyers and seletes of real estate is sealed and corrected.

– We used to have land and mortgage registers in paper form. Customers came to a notary public with excerpts and in this way confirmed that they were the owners of the property. Today we have a preview in the land and mortgage registers in electronic form, which makes it easier to verify. We see all entries on a regular basis, including those that prevent sales, for example forced entries on the mortgage of the Social Insurance Institution or the Tax Office – says Wroński.

In the described situation in the article there is the story of a person who has documents in which seemingly everything agrees: name and surname, PESEL number, parents' names, ID card number.

– And this is a problem. If someone causes identity professionally, it is probably very easy to get personal data and produce such ID cards. We do not have devices that find if they are false. We carry out the verification of electronic evidence based on the application I have on the phone and then customers scan the code. If the entire database has been completely stolen, I am able to believe that the notary public will pop out properly during verification. Precisely counterfeit documents are a great challenge for notaries – comments a spokesman for the notary chamber.

He encourages that in a situation where you plan to sell an apartment, rewrite real estate, write a will or perform other activities, come to a notary public for advice earlier.

– We can ask a notary public to check if there are any disturbing entries in a given land and mortgage register. We provide free advice throughout the country and once a year we organize notary public open days. We are aware of the growing threats and traps lurking on citizens, which is why we conduct educational campaigns in schools or among seniors – adds Sławomir Wroński.

Asp. Aleksandra Laskowska from the Police Headquarters explains that “situations in which the police are dealing with people using such (forged – ed.) Documents are extremely different.”

– From the basic activity, which is ID, to the use of forged ID card when concluding, for example, a loan or a flat rental agreement – he explains.

– We are not able to state how many counterfeit documents are “on the market”. Nevertheless, in 2023 there were 13,233 criminal forgery (including documents), while in 2024 such crimes were recorded 13,659, which is an increase of 426 cases – he adds.

Read: 180 forged ID cards, 495 allegations

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