TOMASZ PRZYBECKI
08-08-2010

Sale of a road plot – liability for a legal defect

The law firm undertook the representation of a client in a dispute over legal defects in the property he acquired.

The client bought a single property consisting of several parcels of land, including one with a road character. The seller was listed in the Land and Mortgage Register as the owner of all plots of land, but after the transaction it became apparent that the road plot had, as of January 1, 1999, passed by operation of law to the ownership of the City of Poznan, on the basis of article 73 of the Act of October 13, 1998 Laws introducing laws reforming public administration. Thus, the seller, despite the

entry in the land register, could not effectively dispose of one of the plots of land in accordance with the principle of nemo plus iuris transfere potest, quam ipse habet. On behalf of the client, the law firm filed a lawsuit for payment of an amount equivalent to a road plot that the client had not successfully acquired. The court has issued a payment order, and the awarded receivables are now being enforced by a bailiff.