How to check a tenant before signing a lease

Before signing a lease, a landlord in Poland usually checks three things: identity (an ID card), whether the tenant can afford the rent (income) and whether they paid rent before (rent history). Debt registers you can check only with the tenant's consent, through an intermediary, or from a report the tenant downloads about themselves. The quickest route is to ask for a tenant certificate from a bank, for example from CzynszOK, and check it for free with a QR code.

Four questions you are looking for answers to

1. Is this person who they say they are?
2. Can they afford this rent every month, not just this month?
3. Did they pay rent regularly in their previous flat?
4. Do they have arrears that could put the payments at risk?

Each verification method answers part of these questions. None answers all of them, so it pays to know which one says what, and what it leaves out.

What you can check and how

Identity

Ask to see an ID card or, for foreigners, a passport or a residence card. Copy into the lease the details you need. A copy of the document is more data than you need and a duty to keep it safe, so looking at the document is usually enough.

Two free government tools help with Polish documents. You can check an mDowód with a QR code in the mObywatel app; the Ministry of Digital Affairs describes it as the most reliable method. Whether a plastic ID card has been invalidated or suspended you can check in a service on gov.pl, after logging in with a trusted profile or an e-ID card.

Income

The traditional way: an employment contract, an earnings certificate, a PIT tax return or statements from several months. It works, but it has two weaknesses. You get the full amounts, the account number and the list of expenses, although you only ask whether the tenant can afford the rent. And you do not know whether the PDF was edited. With a sole proprietorship or contracts of mandate, there is often nobody who can issue such a certificate.

An alternative is confirmation from bank data. The tenant connects their bank through a licensed PSD2 provider, and you get a result that you check with the issuer, with no file to judge.

Rent history

You can ask for the contact of the previous landlord. It is free, but the opinion is only as good as the person giving it. Rent transfer history is also shown by some bank-based services: plokey and CzynszOK (an optional "rent paid regularly" check).

Debt registers

This is where most of the confusion is. A private landlord cannot query BIK on their own, and a query about a consumer in the credit bureaus (KRD, BIG InfoMonitor, ERIF) needs that person's consent and an agreement with the bureau. In practice you have three routes:

• an intermediary that has agreements with the bureaus and collects the tenant's consent, for example simpl.rent or Zaufany Lokator;
• a report about themselves that the tenant downloads on their own: from KRD for free once every 6 months, from BIK as a paid Raport BIK. Remember that you get a file you cannot verify yourself;
• Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych (the National Debtors Register), a public register of the Ministry of Justice with consumer bankruptcies and restructuring proceedings. It covers cases since December 2021.

We write more about when registers are needed and when bank data is enough in the article Tenant check without BIK.

Limits: what is not worth demanding

You may ask for information, but the tenant can refuse, and you become the controller of the data you collect. The GDPR requires data to be limited to what is necessary for the purpose (the data minimisation principle, art. 5(1)(c)). The purpose is to answer the four questions above, not to go through the candidate's shopping list.

Full statements for three months from ten candidates are ten folders of other people's financial data that you must keep safe and delete when they are no longer needed. The less you collect, the less you risk.

Ways to check a tenant: price and time

As of 7 October 2026, according to the providers' own websites. CzynszOK is us, so for the others we write only what they state themselves.

Method	Who pays	Price	Time	What you get
Documents	nobody	0 zł	days, depending on the tenant	full amounts, files you cannot verify
Own report from KRD or BIK	tenant	KRD 0 zł once every 6 months, Raport BIK 49-59 zł	from a moment to a few days	a PDF from the register, no income
simpl.rent	landlord	249 zł, up to 10 candidates per address	usually the same business day	a result from 5 registers and income from documents (at least 2x the rent)
Zaufany Lokator	tenant or landlord	299 zł	usually 1 business day	an analyst's PDF with a recommendation and an estimated rent capacity
plokey	tenant or landlord	49 zł	seconds	12 months of rent history, link valid for 7 days, the tenant can correct it
Rendin	usually the tenant	2.5% of monthly rent instead of a deposit	not stated	a check in BIG and a guarantee
CzynszOK	tenant	49 zł after the bank result, landlord 0 zł	a few minutes	"Rent X zł: OK", identity from the bank, optionally the deposit and rent history, valid for 90 days

The full comparison with a description of each service: Tenant verification in Poland 2026: an honest comparison.

A certificate from the bank instead of statements

Instead of collecting documents, you can ask the candidate for a CzynszOK certificate. The tenant types the rent from your listing, connects their bank through Enable Banking, a licensed PSD2 provider from the EBA register (one time, read-only, up to 2 banks with 2 accounts each), and after a few minutes gets a certificate with a QR code. They pay 49 zł, you pay nothing.

On the verification page you will see the name from the bank, "Rent 2 800 zł/month: OK", the selected checks (rent history, deposit, no enforcement transfers found), the dates and the names of the banks. You will not see earnings, balance or transactions, so you do not hold anyone's financial data. The candidate does not have to show a payslip to you or to an agency, so it is easier for them to agree. We explain what exactly "OK" means in the article Can the tenant afford the rent. If a couple rents the flat, you get one joint certificate with both names. How to read the result step by step is in the guide How to check a tenant certificate.

What the certificate will not tell you: anything about loans and debts in registers, because we do not query BIK, KRD or BIG. If that matters to you, additionally ask for a free report about themselves from KRD.

A ready message to the candidate

Copy it and change the amount:

Hello, thank you for your interest in the flat. Before we arrange signing the lease, please send me a tenant certificate from your bank for a rent of 2 800 zł a month, for example from CzynszOK (czynszok.pl). A certificate code or a QR code is enough for me, I will check it myself. I do not need statements or earnings certificates. If you can, please add the deposit check for 5 600 zł. When we sign the lease, I will ask to see your ID card. Best regards

For candidates who prefer documents, leave the second route open. Some people do not have online banking in a supported bank or earn mostly in cash, and they should not drop off the list because of it.

Questions

How do landlords in Poland usually check a tenant's credibility?

Most often they look at an ID card, ask for an employment contract, an earnings certificate or statements, and ask about the previous landlord. More and more they also use services: registers through an intermediary (simpl.rent), an analyst (Zaufany Lokator) or a certificate from bank data (CzynszOK, plokey).

Where can I verify a new tenant before signing the lease?

Online: in simpl.rent (the landlord pays, 249 zł), in Zaufany Lokator (299 zł), or ask the tenant for a CzynszOK certificate, which you check for free at czynszok.pl/v. You additionally confirm identity by looking at the ID card.

Can I check a tenant in BIK or KRD myself?

Not directly. A query needs the tenant's consent and an agreement with the bureau, which is why intermediaries do it. The tenant can also download a report about themselves: from KRD for free once every 6 months, from BIK for a fee.

Can I demand a bank statement from a prospective tenant?

You can ask, but the candidate may refuse, and you are responsible for the data you collect. A statement contains much more than you need. A certificate from the bank answers the rent question without amounts and transactions.

How much does it cost to check a tenant?

From 0 zł (documents, own report from KRD) through 49 zł (CzynszOK and plokey) to 249 zł (simpl.rent) and 299 zł (Zaufany Lokator), as of 7 October 2026. With CzynszOK the tenant pays and the landlord checks the certificate for free.

Should I make a copy of the tenant's ID card?

Usually you do not have to. To check identity it is enough to look at the document and compare the name with the certificate or the lease, and you can copy the details you need for the lease. A copy is more data than you need and a duty to keep it safe.