Hutten-Czapska v. Poland
European Court of Human Rights
Application No. 35014/97 (2006)
- Written by Mary Katherine Cunningham, JD
Facts
During the period of communist rule, the government of Poland (defendant) implemented a rent-control system that was in place until 1994. Under this system, municipal housing authorities required employees to live in houses under the scheme. After the collapse of communism, local courts continued to allow tenants to live in these homes without relocating, despite losses of income by the property owners. In the rent-control system prior to 1994, the government-controlled rent covered 30 percent of the cost of maintaining buildings and applied to private and public buildings. This system allowed tenants to pay below-market-value rent and required the landlords to cover the remainder. In 1994, the government enacted a special lease scheme that placed limits on how much landlords could charge in rent and when landlords could limit leases. In 1998, the rent-control system expanded to cover 60 percent of maintenance costs, but landlords continued to lose money on properties included in the rent-control system. Maria Hutten-Czapska (plaintiff) obtained ownership over a plot of land in Gdynia, Poland, that previously belonged to her parents. Hutten-Czapska challenged the rent-control system under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights. Hutten-Czapska argued that the rent-control system violated her right to enjoyment of her property by imposing tenancy agreements on her property and inadequately compensating her by maintaining a low rate of rent. Hutten-Czapska argued that the rent-control system also deprived her of the ability to regain possession of her property because the system restricted her ability to end lease agreements under the rent-control system.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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