Tenants get builders' bills 12 years on

In 1993, when the first tenants moved into their new flats, the price for one sqm was zł.570. Now, the Czuby building society is demanding that tenants pay zł.2,000 per sqm. Moreover, the society is taking legal action against those who are unwilling to do so.

 One tenant in the disputed block told Gazeta Wyborcza: "We do not even know the reason why. The building society takes us to the court instead of presenting the proper documents," he said.

However, the District Court in Lublin is agreeing with the building society and some tenants have already received a legal order to pay their debts without their case being heard.

Although lawyers have advised tenants to fight the warrants legally, some have already decided to sell up, due to the potential legal costs.

Recently the management of the Czuby building society admitted that construction of the block on ul. Dziewanny had been uneconomical. Still, the tenants do not have access to the documents that could help explain how the extra fees were calculated.

Two years ago the society's management had an expert evaluate the flats. However, the tenants refused to accept the expert's decision and sued the society. According to one lawyer, Barbara Stefaniuk, the tenants' case is not lost, but she says the court should stop considering individual cases and concentrate on just one as a yardstick, using an expert's opinion on the investment as a evidence.