A foreign buyer or lender evaluating Polish commercial property faces a layered collateral picture. The land register (Księgi Wieczyste) shows recorded mortgages and ownership. It does not show pledge registries, insolvency proceedings, VAT status, or the beneficial ownership chain. Each of those sits in a separate official system. This report maps what each system discloses, at what cost, and where the chain of verification ends.
- What the land register shows
- Ownership, recorded mortgages, easements, and any annotations. Access is free via ekw.ms.gov.pl — but only by Księga Wieczysta number, not by owner name. Source: EKW (ekw.ms.gov.pl) · verified 12 August 2026.
- Cost of access
- Electronic search is free of charge. A certified extract (odpis) carries a statutory fee. Source: EKW · verified 12 August 2026.
- Access condition
- The KW number must be known in advance. Private individuals may not search by owner name. The number is obtained from the land and buildings registry (ewidencja gruntów i budynków).
- What it does not show
- Registered pledges (Rejestr Zastawów), fiscal pledges (Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych), insolvency proceedings opened after 1 December 2021 (KRZ), and the beneficial ownership chain (CRBR).
Why collateral verification requires more than the land register
The Księga Wieczysta records what has been formally entered by a notary or court. A pledge over movable assets, equipment, or receivables is not entered there — it appears in the Rejestr Zastawów held by the Ministry of Justice. A fiscal pledge securing a tax debt is recorded separately in the Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych, administered by the Ministry of Finance. Neither automatically appears in the land register, even when the pledged asset is located on the subject property.
For a buyer or lender, the collateral question therefore has three distinct layers: what encumbers the real property itself, what encumbers the operating assets of the entity that owns it, and whether that entity is subject to any insolvency or restructuring proceeding. All three layers draw from different official sources.
The pledge registries: two systems, one check
Poland operates two parallel pledge registries. The Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice, Centralna Informacja o Zastawach) covers registered pledges over movable assets and assignable rights. A certificate confirming whether a given entity is a pledgor (DW-1) costs PLN 20. A certificate by subject of pledge (DW-2) also costs PLN 20. A certified extract (DW-4) costs PLN 15. These are statutory tariffs.
The Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance) covers fiscal pledges arising from unpaid tax liabilities. Search by subject is free. A formal statement (wypis/zaświadczenie) costs PLN 50, obtainable through e-Urząd Skarbowy. A complete pledge profile of the selling entity requires both registries to be checked.
| Registry | Administrator | Covers | Search cost | Certificate cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rejestr Zastawów | Ministry of Justice | Registered pledges over movables and rights | Per query | DW-1/DW-2: PLN 20 · DW-4: PLN 15 |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych | Ministry of Finance | Fiscal pledges (tax debt security) | Free | PLN 50 via e-Urząd Skarbowy |
Insolvency and restructuring: the KRZ cut-off date
The Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych (KRZ) is the central insolvency register. It is publicly accessible at krz.ms.gov.pl, free of charge, without login. Search runs by NIP, KRS number, PESEL, or case reference. The register shows bankruptcy petitions, restructuring proceedings, consumer insolvency, and debt relief proceedings.
The critical limit: KRZ contains only proceedings opened on or after 1 December 2021. Proceedings opened before that date were published in the Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy (MSiG). MSiG is searchable free of charge at wyszukiwarka-msig.ms.gov.pl, with archive coverage from 1996. Both must be checked. A clean KRZ result for a proceeding opened in 2019 means nothing — that case would be in MSiG, not KRZ.
VAT status and bank accounts: the White List
The Biała Lista (White List) is maintained by the Head of the National Revenue Administration (szef KAS) and published at podatki.gov.pl. It is free and requires no login. The list shows current VAT registration status, the entity's registered bank accounts, and the history of deregistration, exclusion, and reinstatement with dates. It can be queried for any past date.
The collateral relevance is direct. A payment made to a bank account not listed on the White List at the transaction date triggers joint and several VAT liability for the buyer. Verifying the seller's account against the list on the day of transfer is a standard closing step.
Beneficial ownership: CRBR
The Centralny Rejestr Beneficjentów Rzeczywistych (CRBR) is open, free, and requires no account. It discloses the declared ultimate beneficial owners of Polish companies, foundations, and trusts. The register shows name, nationality, PESEL where held, and the nature and extent of control.
The limit is declaration-based: the register shows what the entity's management filed. It does not independently verify the accuracy of those declarations. Discrepancies between the CRBR filing and the KRS shareholder list are themselves a finding — and one that warrants further review.
Company register and financial statements
The Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy (KRS) is free of charge. It shows the legal form, registered address, management board, supervisory board, share capital, and filed shareholder lists. A certified extract (odpis) carries a fee in the range of PLN 30–60, obtainable through the Portal Rejestrów Sądowych.
Filed financial statements are available free of charge through the Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych (RDF), linked from the KRS entry. These include balance sheets, profit and loss accounts, and auditor reports where filing is mandatory. The RDF covers filings submitted since the repository's launch; earlier statements may require a court file request.
The limit of what the sources allow
Each registry answers a defined question. None answers all of them. The Księga Wieczysta shows recorded encumbrances — it does not show unregistered contractual arrangements, pending court annotations not yet entered, or pledges over assets not linked to the property. The KRZ shows insolvency proceedings from December 2021 onward; earlier proceedings are in MSiG, and a proceeding filed but not yet registered in either system will not appear at all. The CRBR shows declared beneficial owners; it does not verify those declarations against actual shareholding agreements or nominee arrangements.
The land register access barrier is structural. Without the KW number, electronic search is not possible for a private party. Obtaining that number requires cross-referencing the ewidencja gruntów i budynków, which is held at the district (powiat) level and has no single national search interface. This is the path that verification work removes.
A negative result in any single registry is not a clean bill of health. It is a statement about what that registry shows, on the date of search, for the identifier queried.
Where the sources disagree
Two types of discrepancy appear regularly in Polish commercial property transactions. First: the CRBR beneficial owner entry does not match the shareholder list filed with KRS. This occurs when a corporate restructuring was registered in KRS but the CRBR filing was not updated within the statutory seven-day period. Both records carry a date — the gap between them is the finding.
Second: the Rejestr Zastawów shows an active pledge over equipment described as being on the subject property, while the land register shows no encumbrance. Both can be simultaneously correct — the pledge is over the movable asset, not the land. The question is whether the transaction structure accounts for both layers.
What is included at each tier
| Tier | Price | Included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €710 | Księga Wieczysta extract (all four sections) · KRS company profile · CRBR beneficial owner filing · KRZ insolvency check · MSiG search (proceedings pre-December 2021) · Biała Lista VAT and bank account status · Written summary in English | Pledge registry certificates (Rejestr Zastawów / Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych) · Financial statement analysis · Ewidencja gruntów cross-reference · Discrepancy narrative |
| Standard | €1,500 | Everything in Signal · Rejestr Zastawów certificate (DW-1 by entity, DW-2 by subject) · Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych statement · Ewidencja gruntów cross-reference to confirm KW number and boundary data · Three-year financial statement review (RDF) · Discrepancy table where sources conflict · English-language report with annotated source extracts | Site visit or physical inspection · Valuation · Legal qualification of findings · Court file review beyond register entries |
| Extended | €3,400 | Everything in Standard · Court file review for any insolvency or enforcement proceedings identified · Review of planning permissions and building permits (GUNB/local authority) · Historical MSiG search for enforcement announcements · UBO discrepancy analysis against KRS shareholder history · Consolidated findings memorandum with source-by-source commentary · Delivery within 10 business days | Legal advice or qualification · Negotiation support · Representation in any proceeding · Valuation or technical due diligence |
Frequently asked questions
Can the Księga Wieczysta be searched by owner name?
No. The electronic land register (EKW) is searchable only by KW number. Polish law restricts name-based search to authorised entities. Obtaining the KW number requires cross-referencing the ewidencja gruntów i budynków at district level. That step is included in all three tiers of this report.
Is a clean KRZ result sufficient to confirm no insolvency proceedings?
No. KRZ covers proceedings opened from 1 December 2021 onward. Earlier proceedings were published in MSiG. A complete insolvency check covers both systems. Both are free of charge; the work is in running the correct identifiers across both archives.
What does the White List check establish for a buyer?
It confirms whether the seller's bank account was registered with the tax authority on a given date. A payment to an unlisted account creates joint and several VAT liability for the buyer under Polish tax law. The check is date-specific and must be run on the day of transfer.
Why are two pledge registries checked separately?
The Rejestr Zastawów covers registered pledges created by agreement. The Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych covers fiscal pledges arising by operation of law from unpaid tax liabilities. Neither registry feeds into the other. An entity may have entries in one, both, or neither. A complete pledge profile requires both searches.
What does the CRBR show — and what does it not show?
CRBR shows the beneficial owner as declared by the entity's management board. It does not verify those declarations independently. Where the CRBR entry does not match the current KRS shareholder list, the discrepancy is noted in the report with source dates for both records.
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.