Invalidity of waiver of compensation for real estate acquired under the special road act (ZRID)

A court dispute concerning the obligation to pay compensation to the client for the acquisition of property ownership rights under the special road act (ZRID) ended with a final judgment issued by the Regional Court in Rzeszów, which was fully favourable to the Law Firm’s Client.

The case was another stage in a dispute arising from an agreement concluded in 2011 between the Client, operating in the commercial real estate sector, and the mayor of the city – as the administrator of public roads and the executive authority of the municipality. The agreement was concluded pursuant to Article 16(1) and (2) of the Act of 21 March 1985 on public roads, and thus specified the rules for the construction and reconstruction of public roads in connection with the Client’s non-road investment. However, it contained provisions which implied that the Client of the Law Firm had waived in advance any compensation for the deprivation of his property rights in connection with the construction of a public road on the basis of a road construction permit.

Questioning the validity of these contractual provisions, after obtaining an enforcement clause for the final administrative decision determining the amount of compensation due to the Client for the acquisition of ownership of the property by the municipality, the Client applied to the bailiff to enforce the amount due to him. The municipality then filed a lawsuit to deprive the above enforcement title of its enforceability.

Alternatively, it demanded that the Client be ordered to pay an amount corresponding to the compensation paid to him.

In its judgment, the court fully agreed with the arguments of the Law Firm’s attorneys and barristers, who argued, among other things, that the contractual provisions invoked by the municipality concerning the waiver of compensation or the obligation to return it were invalid.

Thanks to the effective actions of the Law Firm’s lawyers, the Client obtained the compensation due to him in the considerable amount of approximately PLN 800,000.

You can read about the previous stages of the dispute concerning the waiver of compensation for the municipality’s acquisition of ownership of the property under the special road law or the obligation to return it here.

The final judgments issued in these cases are of significant importance to all investors who have entered into agreements with public and local government entities under which they were to waive any compensation for the acquisition of real estate that was previously their property.