Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw 3rd Civil Division of 10th July 2015
III C 56/15

The decision has been amended by the decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw 3rd Civil Division dated 15th September 2015, III C 56/15

The Regional Court in Warsaw 3rd Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Presiding Judge: Joanna Kruczkowska, Regional Court Judge

Judges: Joanna Bitner, Regional Court Judge (rapporteur), Grzegorz Chmiel, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 15th September 2015 in W. at a hearing in camera the case filed by K.K., the representative of the group against (…) the Housing Association in W. for payment

 hereby decides to:

I. order the publishing of announcements on the opening of group proceedings with the following wording:

’Under the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, a class action has been initiated before the Regional Court in Warsaw 3rd Civil Division, file reference number III C 56/15, in the case filed by K.K. against (…) the Housing Association in W. for payment.

The group consists of 34 members and the value of the subject of the litigation is PLN 1,441,398/62.

K.K., as the representative of the group, requested the Court to award the above-given amount to the members of the group from  the Defendant (…) Housing Association in W. on the grounds of unjustified enrichment which the Housing Association achieved as a result of unlawfully overcharging the building contributions for the residential premises and parking spaces in the building at ul. (…). in W. According to the Claimant, the building contributions already paid by the members of the group were calculated inaccurately, because the equivalent of the land value was included as a component of the building cost, whereas the Housing Association in reality had not acquired the land, having obtained it free of charge in perpetual ususfruct.

Each person, whose claim may be examined in these group proceedings, namely each person who acquired the right to residential premises or a parking space within the framework of the investment at ul. (…) from (…) the Housing Association and paid the building contribution, of which the land value equivalent was a component, and did not conclude the contract in connection with their economic or professional activity – may join the group within the non-extendible time period of 2 months starting from the day the of publishing of this announcement.

The group may be joined by way of submitting a written declaration on joining the group to the representative of the group – K.K. – forwarded to the serving address of his legal representative: T. and (..) Law Firm (…) registered partnership, ul. (…) (…) apartment, (…)-(…) W.

Joining the group after the lapse of the time period given above is inadmissible.

Submitting the declaration on joining the group is equivalent to granting consent to K.K. to act as the representative of the group and to the rules of legal representative remuneration, and to acceding to the ’Agreement to form a group in order to pursue claims against (…) the Housing Association with its registered office in W. under the provisions of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings’, which regulates, among others, the group’s decision making process and also the manner of financing of the costs of the proceedings.

The remuneration of the legal representative paid by each group member shall consists of:

one-time lump sums in the amount of:

– PLN 1,600.00 (+ VAT) – for the first instance and the appeal proceedings,

– PLN 1,067.00 (+ VAT) – for the second instance,

– PLN 712.00 (+ VAT) – for preparation of a cassation complaint and/or representation before the Supreme Court, and a a  success fee in the amount of 6 % of the amount enforced or paid by (…) the Housing Association in W. awarded to a group member (+ VAT)

and the costs of the legal representation awarded by the Court to the Claimant.

Parties who have signed the Financing Agreement in order to acquire single residential premises (as joint co-ownership or co-ownership in fractional parts) shall pay a single fee.

Parties who have signed the Financing Agreement in order to acquire more than one residential premises (each of such premises as  joint co-ownership or co-ownership in fractional parts) shall pay a single fee.

A party that has signed the Financing Agreement (Financing Agreements) in order to acquire more than residential premises shall pay a single fee.

A party wishing to join to the proceeding also needs to join the  ’Agreement to form a group in order to pursue claims against (…) the Housing Association with its registered office in W. under the provisions of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings ‘ (the template of which is available on the S. Law Firm website and/or it is made otherwise available by the Group) concluded by the group members joining the proceedings within the action filed.

A party wishing to join to the proceedings also needs to pay the lump sum of PLN 1,200 gross, determined in the hereinbefore mentioned Agreement, to be spent on: (1) reimbursing the outgoing costs of the group members’ activities connected with litigations against (…) the Housing Association preceding the filing of the class action  (including the proceedings before the Consumer and Competition Protection Court in which the Court found that the provisions on valorization included in the Financing Agreement constitutes a prohibited clause); (2) securing the potential costs of the group proceedings, as well as for (3) current organizational expenses of the group’s operation and for (4) other expenses in keeping with the groups’ decisions.

A legally valid judgment is binding for all the members of the group, i.e. all the persons who before the lapse of the 1-month period submit a declaration on joining the group and become included in the Court’s decision establishing the ’ composition of the group.

All the details regarding the joining of the group, as well as the templates of the documents (including the template of a declaration of on joining the group) can be downloaded at www.(…).net and www.(…)net.’
II. to impose on Claimant K.K. by way of his legal representative, P.T., attorney-at-law, an obligation to publish, at the group’s expense, the above-mentioned announcement in the capital city of Warsaw news column of one of the daily papers listed below: ‘(…)’, (…) Gazeta (…), Gaeta (…), Gazeta (…), ‘(…) or (…) – and to submit the proof of performance of the above-mentioned obligation within 3 weeks, under pain of publishing the announcement by the Court at the Claimant’s expense.

 III. post the announcement in the Court’s building and in the Office D. – U.