Collateral due diligence on a Polish commercial property begins with one question: what does the land register actually show, and what does it conceal? The Księgi Wieczyste system is the primary title record. It is publicly searchable. It is free. What it cannot do is confirm the absence of encumbrances registered in parallel systems — fiscal pledges, civil pledges, and enforcement proceedings that sit in separate registers with separate search logic.
- What the land register shows
- Current owner, legal basis of acquisition, mortgage entries, and other encumbrances. Access: ekw.ms.gov.pl, free, no login. Requires the KW number — not the owner's name. Source: Księgi Wieczyste (EKW) · retrieved 2026-08-11
- How to reach the KW number
- Via the land and buildings cadastre (ewidencja gruntów i budynków). Private individuals cannot search EKW by owner name. The cadastre is the required intermediate step.
- Parallel pledge systems
- Two separate registers exist. Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice): certified statement per pledgor (DW-1) costs 20 PLN; per collateral object (DW-2) costs 20 PLN. Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance): free search, official extract costs 50 PLN. Neither appears in EKW. Source: Centralna Informacja Zastawów · retrieved 2026-08-11
- Insolvency register coverage
- KRZ (krz.ms.gov.pl) is public and free. It covers proceedings opened from 1 December 2021 onward. Earlier proceedings are not in this system. Source: Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych · retrieved 2026-08-11
What the Księgi Wieczyste record contains
Each land register entry is divided into four sections. Section I identifies the property: location, area, land use designation. Section II records ownership and the legal basis of title. Section III carries encumbrances other than mortgages — easements, pre-emption rights, enforcement notices. Section IV records mortgages: creditor, amount, currency, and rank.
The collateral profile a lender needs runs across all four sections. A mortgage in Section IV does not appear in Section III. An enforcement notice (wpis ostrzeżenia) entered in Section III signals active proceedings against the property. Both must be read together.
EKW delivers a real-time view. The register reflects the state at the moment of query, not at the moment of the underlying transaction. A mortgage discharged yesterday will not appear. A mortgage entered this morning will.
The access barrier: KW number required
EKW does not permit name-based searches for private individuals. The only valid search key is the KW number — a jurisdiction-specific alphanumeric identifier assigned at registration. Without it, the register is inaccessible.
The KW number is found in the land and buildings cadastre (ewidencja gruntów i budynków), maintained by the relevant starostwo. Accessing the cadastre for a specific parcel requires the parcel identifier (działka number). That identifier is on the notarial deed or the seller's documentation. The sequence is: deed → parcel number → cadastre → KW number → EKW.
For a foreign buyer without Polish-language documentation, each step in this sequence is a practical barrier. The cadastre is not uniformly digitised across all municipalities. Some starostwo offices require an in-person visit or a formal written request.
Pledge registers: two systems, neither linked to EKW
Polish law maintains two pledge registers that operate independently of the land register. A clean EKW extract does not confirm the absence of pledges in either system.
| Register | Authority | Search basis | Cost of certified statement | What it does not show |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rejestr Zastawów | Ministry of Justice (Centralna Informacja) | Pledgor name or collateral object | DW-1 (per pledgor): 20 PLN · DW-2 (per object): 20 PLN · DW-4 (full extract): 15 PLN | Fiscal pledges; enforcement proceedings; EKW mortgages |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych | Ministry of Finance (e-Urząd Skarbowy) | Collateral object (NIP, PESEL, or item description) | Free search; official wypis/zaświadczenie: 50 PLN | Civil pledges; EKW mortgages; insolvency proceedings |
A complete pledge profile requires both registers to be searched. Neither search is technically complex. Both require the correct identifier — typically the entity's NIP (tax number) or PESEL. Obtaining those identifiers for a counterparty that has not volunteered them requires a separate step through KRS or the Biała lista.
Insolvency and enforcement: KRZ and its coverage limit
The Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych (KRZ) is the current Polish insolvency and restructuring register. It is public, free, and requires no login. Search parameters include NIP, KRS number, PESEL, and case reference.
KRZ replaced the former Rejestr Dłużników Niewypłacalnych and covers proceedings opened from 1 December 2021 onward. A seller whose insolvency petition was filed in 2019 and closed in 2020 will not appear in KRZ. That gap is structural, not a data quality issue. The Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy (MSiG) archive, searchable at wyszukiwarka-msig.ms.gov.pl, covers earlier periods from 1996 onward. Since December 2021, insolvency announcements have been published in KRZ rather than MSiG.
An enforcement notice entered against a property appears in Section III of EKW. It does not automatically appear in KRZ. The two systems are not linked. A property can carry an active enforcement notice in EKW while showing no KRZ entry, and vice versa.
VAT status and bank account verification
The Biała lista (White List of VAT taxpayers) is maintained by the Head of the National Revenue Administration (szef KAS). It is free and requires no login. It shows the seller's VAT registration status, declared bank accounts, and the reason and date of any deregistration or reinstatement.
For a buyer paying the purchase price to a bank account not listed on the Biała lista, Polish law imposes joint and several VAT liability on the buyer. This is not a theoretical risk. It is a statutory consequence. Verifying the account before transfer is the standard control.
The Biała lista allows historical queries — status on any past date can be checked. It also provides a full taxpayer register file (JPK_WB format) and an API for high-volume users.
Company register and financial statements
The seller's corporate status is verified through KRS (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy). KRS is free and publicly searchable. A certified extract (odpis) carries a fee of approximately 30–60 PLN depending on the document type and delivery method.
Filed financial statements are held in the Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych, accessible free of charge through the KRS portal. For entities required to file, the repository shows annual accounts and audit reports. Gaps in the filing sequence are themselves a data point.
The beneficial ownership register (CRBR — Centralny Rejestr Beneficjentów Rzeczywistych) is public and free, with no login required. It shows declared ultimate beneficial owners. The register reflects declarations made by the entity. It does not independently verify the accuracy of those declarations.
The limit of what the sources allow
EKW shows encumbrances registered in EKW. It does not show fiscal pledges, civil pledges, or enforcement proceedings registered in other systems. A clean EKW printout is a necessary condition for clear title — it is not a sufficient one. The pledge registers and the insolvency register must be checked separately, and neither is linked to EKW in real time.
KRZ covers insolvency proceedings from December 2021 onward. A seller with a closed insolvency from an earlier period will show no KRZ entry. The MSiG archive covers earlier periods but is not structured data — it is a PDF archive of gazette issues. Searching it requires knowing what to look for and where the relevant announcement would have been published.
CRBR shows declared beneficial owners. Polish law requires disclosure of UBOs who hold 25% or more of shares or voting rights, or who exercise effective control. The register does not verify the declarations. Where ownership is structured through multiple layers or nominee arrangements, the declared entry may not reflect the actual control chain. The register identifies what has been declared — not what is true.
- EKW search requires the KW number — not available by name search for private individuals
- Rejestr Zastawów and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych are separate systems; neither is visible in EKW
- KRZ covers proceedings from 1 December 2021 only — earlier proceedings require MSiG archive search
- CRBR reflects declarations, not verified ownership structures
- Vehicle and equipment registers (CEPiK) require three simultaneous identifiers — registration number, VIN, and first registration date — the last of which is held only by the seller
What is included at each tier
| Tier | Price (EUR) | Included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €290 | EKW extract (all four sections) with commentary on encumbrance entries; KRS current extract; Biała lista VAT status and declared accounts on transaction date; KRZ search (from December 2021); written summary in English | Pledge register searches (Rejestr Zastawów, Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych); MSiG archive search for pre-2021 periods; CRBR ownership chain analysis; financial statement review; cadastre trace to KW number |
| Standard | €470 | Everything in Signal, plus: both pledge register searches with certified statements (DW-1, DW-2, fiscal wypis); MSiG archive search covering 1996–2021; CRBR beneficial ownership report; KRS financial statement gap analysis | Cadastre trace where parcel number is not provided; physical site visit; legal qualification of findings; enforcement proceedings outside KRZ and EKW scope |
| Extended | €960 | Everything in Standard, plus: cadastre trace from parcel number to KW number; cross-register reconciliation table identifying discrepancies between EKW, pledge registers, KRZ, and CRBR; CRBR ownership chain traced to natural persons with narrative on gaps; Biała lista historical account verification for prior 12 months; written findings memorandum in English with source annexes | Legal advice on findings; title insurance; representation in proceedings; physical condition assessment; environmental register searches |
All tiers are delivered as a factual report. No tier includes legal advice or legal qualification of the findings established. Payment is arranged by invoice after scope confirmation at info@kordeckipartners.com.
Where the sources disagree
The most common discrepancy encountered in Polish commercial property files is between the EKW ownership entry and the KRS current shareholder list. EKW records the owner at the time of the last notarial transfer. KRS records the current registered shareholders of the selling entity. Where the selling entity has changed its shareholding structure after the property was acquired, the two records reflect different points in time. Neither is wrong — they measure different things.
A second common discrepancy arises between CRBR declarations and KRS shareholding data. Where a shareholder holds exactly 25% — the threshold for mandatory UBO disclosure — the CRBR entry may or may not include that person, depending on whether the entity interprets the threshold as inclusive or exclusive. The registers do not reconcile this automatically.
Where a pledge appears in Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych but the property shows no encumbrance in EKW, the explanation is structural: fiscal pledges attach to assets by operation of law and do not require EKW registration. The absence of an EKW entry does not discharge a fiscal pledge.
Frequently asked questions
Can EKW be searched in English?
The EKW portal operates in Polish only. All entries, field labels, and downloaded documents are in Polish. The extract itself is a legal document in the Polish language. Translation and interpretation of entries is a separate step.
Does a mortgage in EKW block a sale?
A registered mortgage does not automatically block a sale. It attaches to the property, not the owner. A buyer acquires the property subject to the mortgage unless the mortgage is discharged before or simultaneously with transfer. The EKW entry identifies the creditor and the secured amount. What the register does not show is whether the underlying debt has been repaid — only the creditor can confirm that, and only a formal discharge (wykreślenie hipoteki) removes the entry.
What is the difference between Rejestr Zastawów and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych?
Rejestr Zastawów records civil pledges (zastawy rejestrowe) created by agreement under the Act on Registered Pledges. Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych records fiscal pledges arising by operation of tax law — no agreement is required for a fiscal pledge to attach. The two registers are maintained by different ministries and searched through different portals. A search of one does not cover the other.
Is the CRBR reliable for identifying the real owner?
CRBR reflects what the entity has declared. The register does not audit or verify declarations. Where ownership is layered through foreign holding companies or nominee structures, the declared entry may stop at the intermediate layer. The report identifies where the declared chain ends and what is not visible from the register alone.
How long does the report take?
Signal: typically 3 business days from receipt of the KW number and entity identifiers. Standard: 5–7 business days. Extended: 8–12 business days, depending on cadastre office response times. Timelines are confirmed at scope stage.
Disclaimer: This report is a factual compilation from official registers and public sources. It is provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and contains no legal qualification of the facts established. KORDECKI & Partners assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@kordeckipartners.com.