The legal position of parties of lease contract of a social apartment in case of sale of the leased property to a third party that is not a local government entity

The main purpose of the article is to analyze the rights and obligations of the parties of lease contract of a social apartment after the lessor sold the property to a third person. The Polish Civil Code (CC ) provides in Art. 678 § 1 that in case of alienation of the leased property, the new owner enters into all rights and obligations resulting from the lease contract. This is the general rule. However, according to the Polish Act on Protection of the Rights of the Residents (p.r.r.), social apartments form a particular group of dwellings intended for lease to the poor. Some specific rules are applicable to the lease of social apartments, e.g. the rent for such apartment is set very low. The local governments are obliged to ensure sufficient number of such apartments for people in need. This is a public obligation arising from the Polish Constitution. Therefore, if a local government intends to sell such apartments, the question is whether the acquirer who is not an entity of anther local government (e.g. is a natural person who is not under obligation to provide such apartments) enters into the rights and obligations of the former lessor. On one hand, a negative answer could result in the lack of protection for the lessee. This complicated situation compels to reasonable consideration. According to author, the acquirer who is not a entity of local government will become a party of the lease contract, but with one modification: he cannot bear the obligations arising from the public law. Consistently, there are two lease contracts. The first one, between the acquirer and alienator which is governed by general rules (i.e. CC ), and the second between the community (alienator) and the tenant. The second one is transformed into a sublease, which is possible according to Art. 20(2a) p.r.r. This solution allows for the contracts of lease of the social apartments to be continued and to protect the rights of tenants, and at the same time the acquirer is not burdened by public obligations, which remain by the proper entity.