Before a foreign buyer or lender can rely on a Polish commercial property as collateral, the ownership structure must be read from Księgi Wieczyste — Poland's land and mortgage register. The register is public and searchable without registration. What it discloses, what it conceals, and where the chain breaks are established before any payment is made.
- What the register shows
- Registered owner, legal basis of acquisition, all encumbrances in Section IV (mortgages), and restrictions in Section III. Source: Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste (EKW) · verified 2026-08-11
- Access condition
- Search requires the KW number. Search by owner name is prohibited for private parties. The KW number must be obtained from the land registry (ewidencja gruntów i budynków) or from the seller.
- Cost of source
- EKW online view: free of charge. Official certified extract: fee applies at the court registry office.
- What it does not show
- Pledges over movable assets and tax liens are held in two separate registers — Rejestr Zastawów and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych — neither of which is linked to EKW entries.
What Księgi Wieczyste discloses for collateral analysis
Every Polish real property parcel with a registered title has a Księga Wieczysta number. The register is divided into four sections. Section I identifies the property and its area. Section II records the owner and the legal act that transferred title. Section III lists restrictions, claims, and third-party rights other than mortgages. Section IV records all mortgages — amount, currency, creditor, and rank.
For a foreign lender assessing collateral, Section IV is the primary read. Mortgage rank in Poland follows the date of entry, not the date of the underlying agreement. A senior mortgage entered on day one takes priority over a junior mortgage entered on day ninety, regardless of when each loan was disbursed.
Section III carries equal weight in collateral analysis. Easements, rights of pre-emption, notices of pending litigation, and enforcement notices all appear here. A notice of pending litigation (wzmianka o wszczęciu egzekucji) in Section III signals active enforcement proceedings against the current owner.
| Section | Content | Collateral relevance |
|---|---|---|
| I | Property description, area, land use designation | Confirms the parcel matches the transaction object |
| II | Owner identity, legal basis of acquisition | Confirms seller has title; flags co-ownership or fiduciary structures |
| III | Restrictions, easements, third-party rights, enforcement notices | Reveals encumbrances that survive a sale; active enforcement is visible here |
| IV | Mortgages: creditor, amount, currency, rank | Establishes the full mortgage stack and the rank available to a new lender |
The access barrier: why the KW number is the first obstacle
EKW is free and open at ekw.ms.gov.pl. However, the system accepts only a direct KW number — it does not accept an owner name, a company name, or a NIP tax number. A foreign buyer who does not already hold the KW number cannot search the register independently.
The KW number is printed in the land and buildings registry (ewidencja gruntów i budynków), maintained by the relevant starostwo. That registry does accept address and parcel number queries. The path is therefore: address or parcel number → ewidencja gruntów → KW number → EKW. Each step requires a different access point, and the ewidencja gruntów is not uniformly digitised across Polish municipalities.
A seller will typically provide the KW number. Relying solely on the seller's disclosure is not a verification procedure. An independent path through the ewidencja is the standard for a collateral report.
Pledge registers: what EKW does not cover
Polish law provides two pledge registers that operate entirely outside Księgi Wieczyste. Both must be checked to establish the full encumbrance picture of a commercial asset.
The Rejestr Zastawów is maintained by the Ministry of Justice through Centralna Informacja. It records registered pledges over movable assets and certain rights. A search certificate (DW-1) by pledgor costs 20 PLN; a certificate by pledged object (DW-2) costs 20 PLN; a certified extract (DW-4) costs 15 PLN. A commercial property transaction may involve pledged equipment, receivables, or inventory held by the same entity — none of which appears in EKW.
The Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych is maintained by the Ministry of Finance. It records tax liens imposed by the tax authority. The search is free via e-Urząd Skarbowy; a formal certificate (wypis/zaświadczenie) costs 50 PLN. A tax lien in this register can attach to assets that are not encumbered in EKW.
| Register | Authority | What it covers | Search cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Księgi Wieczyste (EKW) | Ministry of Justice | Real property mortgages, restrictions, enforcement notices | Free (online view) |
| Rejestr Zastawów | Ministry of Justice, Centralna Informacja | Registered pledges over movables and rights | 20 PLN per certificate (DW-1 / DW-2); 15 PLN for extract (DW-4) |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych | Ministry of Finance | Tax liens imposed by the tax authority | Free search; 50 PLN for formal certificate |
Owner identity: KRS and CRBR
Section II of EKW names the registered owner. Where the owner is a legal entity, the corporate register (KRS) provides the full corporate profile: management board, registered capital, filing history, and financial statements. KRS is free of charge at ekrs.ms.gov.pl. Certified extracts carry a fee in the range of 30–60 PLN.
The Central Register of Beneficial Owners (CRBR) is open, free, and accessible without an account. It discloses the natural persons who ultimately control the entity — name, citizenship, and percentage of control. CRBR is a statutory self-declaration register: the data reflects what the entity has filed, not what an independent investigation would establish.
Insolvency status: KRZ and the 2021 boundary
The National Insolvency Register (KRZ) at krz.ms.gov.pl is public, free, and requires no login. It covers insolvency and restructuring proceedings opened from 1 December 2021 onward. Search accepts NIP, KRS number, PESEL, or case signature.
Proceedings opened before 1 December 2021 were published in the Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy (MSiG). The MSiG archive is searchable at wyszukiwarka-msig.ms.gov.pl, also free of charge. The two registers do not share a unified interface. A complete insolvency check requires both sources.
A negative result in KRZ does not confirm the absence of proceedings. It confirms the absence of a record in KRZ. Earlier proceedings, or proceedings filed but not yet published, fall outside what the register shows.
VAT status and bank account verification
The White List (Biała lista podatników VAT) at podatki.gov.pl discloses the VAT status of the seller entity, its registered bank accounts, and the history of VAT registration changes with dates. The check is free and requires no login. A payment made to a bank account not listed on the White List creates joint VAT liability for the buyer under Polish tax law.
The White List also permits verification against a past date, which allows a buyer to confirm the seller's VAT status at the time of any prior transaction in the chain.
The limit of what the sources allow
EKW shows what is registered. It does not show what has been agreed but not yet entered. In Poland, a mortgage agreement takes effect from the date of entry in EKW, not from the date of signing. A signed but unregistered mortgage does not appear in Section IV. The period between agreement and registration is a blind spot in the register.
CRBR shows what the entity has declared. It does not show beneficial ownership structures that have not been updated after a change in control. The register carries no independent verification mechanism. A discrepancy between CRBR and the actual shareholder structure is not visible from CRBR alone.
The Rejestr Zastawów covers pledges that have been registered. An unregistered contractual pledge does not appear. The Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych covers tax liens that have been formally imposed and entered. A tax assessment that has not yet resulted in a lien entry is invisible. Neither register is linked to EKW. A complete collateral picture requires all three registers to be checked and their results reconciled against each other.
KRZ covers proceedings from 1 December 2021. Earlier proceedings are in MSiG, but MSiG outputs are PDF files with no machine-readable data. A proceeding filed but not yet published does not appear in either source. The absence of a KRZ entry is not a clean bill of health — it is the limit of what the register allows.
Where the sources disagree
The most common discrepancy in Polish commercial property due diligence is between the owner named in EKW Section II and the current KRS filing. A transfer of shares in the owning entity changes economic control without any amendment to EKW. The register continues to show the entity as owner; the entity's own shareholder register reflects the new controller. These two facts can coexist without contradiction in the registers and without any flag.
A second common discrepancy is between the CRBR beneficial owner declaration and the KRS shareholder list. Where the entity has a complex holding structure, the CRBR declaration may name a natural person who is several layers removed from the direct KRS shareholder. Verifying the chain requires reading both registers and cross-referencing the intermediate entities.
A third discrepancy arises when EKW Section IV shows a mortgage as outstanding and the seller represents that it has been discharged. Discharge requires a formal entry in EKW. A bank confirmation letter is not a substitute for a completed entry. Until the entry is made, the mortgage is encumbrance of record.
What is included at each tier
| Scope | Signal — €590 | Standard — €990 | Extended — €2,200 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EKW — all four sections | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| KW number retrieval via ewidencja gruntów | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rejestr Zastawów — DW-1 and DW-2 certificates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych — search and certificate | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| KRS — current extract and filing history | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CRBR — beneficial owner declaration | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| KRZ + MSiG — insolvency check across both registers | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Biała lista — VAT status and bank account verification | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cross-register discrepancy analysis (written) | – | – | ✓ |
| Financial statements from Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych (3 years) | – | – | ✓ |
| Summary memo in English with source references | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full report in English with annotated register extracts | – | – | ✓ |
| Not included at any tier | Legal qualification of findings; opinion on enforceability of encumbrances; advice on transaction structure; representation before any authority | ||
Frequently asked questions
Can EKW be searched by the owner's name?
No. EKW accepts only a direct KW number. Search by name is not available to private parties. The KW number must be obtained from the ewidencja gruntów i budynków or from the seller. The report retrieves the KW number through the ewidencja as part of the service.
Does a clean EKW Section IV mean the property is unencumbered?
It means no mortgage is registered in EKW. Pledges in the Rejestr Zastawów and tax liens in the Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych do not appear in EKW. A complete encumbrance picture requires all three registers.
Is CRBR data reliable?
CRBR is a statutory self-declaration register. Entities are legally required to file and update beneficial owner data. The register does not independently verify the declarations. A discrepancy between CRBR and the actual control structure is not detectable from CRBR alone; it requires cross-referencing KRS shareholder lists and, where applicable, foreign corporate records.
What does the report cover that is not available in free public registers?
The free registers are public. The service covers the removed path: locating the KW number independently of the seller, obtaining certificates from Rejestr Zastawów and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych, reading all sources in sequence, identifying discrepancies across registers, and presenting findings in English with source references. Each register is public. The path through all of them, in the correct order, is not.
How long does the report take?
Signal: up to 3 business days. Standard: up to 5 business days. Extended: up to 8 business days. Timelines assume the property address or parcel number is provided at the time of instruction. Delays in ewidencja responses may extend these timelines; the client is notified promptly if that occurs.
Does the report confirm that the seller has authority to sell?
The report establishes what the registers show: who is named as owner in EKW, who appears as management in KRS, and who is declared as beneficial owner in CRBR. Whether those facts are sufficient to confirm authority to sell is a legal question. The report does not answer legal questions.
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.