Most fequently reported problems
List of most frequently problems reported by the clients of CABs:Citizen and Institution
1. The number of complaints, related to lack of access to complete information in public institutions, persists.
2. The clients complain on obscurity of court procedures which – in case one does not have a lawyer – often results in e.g. squandering the chance to appeal.
3. The problem of lengthiness of court procedures appears often.
4. The clients report common discontinuation of procedures by public prosecutors.
5. The clients complain on long time of awaiting for reply to letters sent to public institutions. Often the receive no answers at all.
6. A problem is also obscure form of official letters, especially as regards justifications of negative decisions. Referrals are often made only to abbreviations of titles of legislative documents.
7. Officers in public administration (especially in their secretariats) provide the clients (by mouth) with incorrect information about their rights and obligations.
Housing
1. Individuals, who bought apartments formerly owned by state business enterprises, commonly terminate rental contracts of the previous tenants who lived there for a long time (on the basis of Article 11.5 of Act of 21 June 2001 on Protection of the Rights of Tenants and on Communal Housing Supplies, but with violation of Article 21 Para. 4 and 5 of this Act). These tenants often face eviction on the street.
2. Owners of apartments which constitute housing communities have problems with exercising their rihts as provided by Act on Ownership of Premises. Special difficulties are related to maintenance of the premises by large companies that commit numerous malpractices.
3. Owners of apartments who rent them, do not have chances for protection of their interests when tenants do not pay the rent and monthly bills. Act of 21 June 2001 on Protection of the Rights of Tenants and on Communal Housing Supplies imposes lenghty procedure of settlement as to payment of debts; if the settlement does not bring results, the last resort is the eviction to a communal apartment, for which one has to wait even several years. In the meantime, the landlord has to pay the bills.
4. The number of cases, where individuals face eviction from communal houses due to arrears in payment of rent, is growing continuously.
5. Important problem are difficulties with claiming revaluation of housing deposits.
Family
1. The clients are very anxious about liquidation of Alimony Fund.
2. New interpretation of Act of 18 July 1974 on Alimony Fund, which says that persons over 18 must be recognized as disabled ones in order to be entitled for alimonies from the Alimony Fund.
3. Problems related to responsibility for debts incurred by one's spouse are commonly reported.
Property
1. As the procedures of claiming compensation for property left in former eastern parts of Poland have been introduced, persons interested in winning back their property or in obtaining compensation for property confiscated in 50's.
2. The clients highlight chaos in signs and description of real estate in communes registers of real estate, especially in rural areas.
3. There are serious concerns about fairness of estimation of value of apartments that are transformed from housing association premises into separate real estates. Some people are anxious about the status of real estates they have in perpetual lease after EU accession.
Social insurance
1. Elderly people are often deprived of important benefits e.g. allowance for veterans as they are not able to watch over changes in legislation or rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Supreme Court that affect these benefits, and they are not informed about it automatically.
2. The clients are of very negative opinion about latest actions of Social Insurance Office which withdrawed maternity allowances. The Office issued decisions on withdrawal of these benefits not relying on any evidence but on assumption that each employment of a pregnant woman was fraudulent .
. Discrepancies between opinions of labour doctors and doctors employed in Social Insurance Office is also inconceivable for the clients. Often when a labour M.D. stated that a person was unable to work due to his/her illnesses, the doctors in Social Insurance Office stated that he/she was able to work.
4. The idea of introduction of appeal against decision of doctors in Social Insurance Office to doctors of “second instance” was not welcomed. The clients have the impression that it will only make the procedure in social insurance matters longer and will not improve the quality of medical examinations.
Created by: Izabela Parczewska, modyfied: Tue Feb 19 18:02:50 2008
