How is it possible for someone to register a company at my address without my knowledge and approval?
This is possible and often happens in practice because the Agency for Business Registers does not check the accuracy of the data provided in the registration application. APR acts according to the principle of formality and will simply register as the address of the company the address that the applicant stated.
When do people usually find out that a company is registered at their address?
More fortunate are people who discover this fact when some mail addressed to the company arrives at their address. In practice, most often people discover the above when a public bailiff knocks on their door. This happens when this phantom company falls into debt and creditors initiate enforcement proceedings to collect their claims. Since your address is the official registered address of that company, the public bailiff has the right to make an inventory of movable things in your apartment or house because there is a presumption that they are the same property of the company.
Is it possible to check whether a company is registered at my address?
Unfortunately, the Agency for Business Registers does not have the ability to search by address. Only if you know the name of the company can you check at which address it has registered its headquarters.
What to do if you discover that someone has registered a company at your address?
In the event that enforcement proceedings have been initiated against a company registered at your address, the first step is to contact the public bailiff who is in charge of the case. It is necessary to submit an objection from a third party in order to establish the inadmissibility of execution. The purpose of this objection is to prove to the public bailiff that your real estate and the things in it have no connection with the company registered there.
Then, it is necessary to file a lawsuit in order to delete the registered address of the registered office of the company. The procedure is conducted before the Commercial Court and is considered urgent. It is possible to ask the APR to register a record of the dispute in order to inform third parties that you have initiated proceedings. After the judgment becomes final, the court delivers it to the APR and the defendant has 30 days to register another address, otherwise the APR initiates the compulsory liquidation procedure.
It is possible to submit a criminal complaint to the public prosecutor’s office for the criminal offense referred to in Article 45 of the Law on the Registration Procedure at the Agency for Economic Registers. This provision stipulates that anyone who reports untrue information to the registry or submits a false or altered document with the intention of using such information or document as the real one in the registration and record keeping process, will be punished with a prison sentence of three months to five years.
