Condominium arrears in Italy: what the buyer inherits

The flat was a bargain, the seller was in a hurry, and three weeks after the deed the building's administrator sends a bill for someone else's unpaid charges. Italian law says the buyer has to deal with it.

Article 63 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Civil Code makes whoever takes over a condominium unit jointly liable with the seller for the charges of the current year and the previous one. The administrator may pursue either of them. The seller stays liable to the building until a certified copy of the deed reaches the administrator.

What does article 63 actually say?

The rule sits in article 63 of the disposizioni per l'attuazione del codice civile, the implementing provisions attached to the Civil Code, in the text published by the Italian state on Normattiva. Its fourth paragraph reads that whoever succeeds to the rights of a condomino is jointly liable with them for the payment of the contributions relating to the current year and the previous one. The fifth paragraph closes the other side: whoever transfers rights over a unit remains jointly liable with the transferee for contributions accrued until the moment a certified copy of the title transferring the right is sent to the administrator.

Two other paragraphs of the same article shape the buyer's exposure. The administrator can obtain an immediately enforceable payment order for approved contributions without the assembly's authorisation, and must give unpaid creditors of the building the details of the condòmini in arrears when asked. Where arrears have lasted six months, the administrator may also suspend the defaulting owner from common services that can be enjoyed separately.

How much can the building claim from a buyer?

The year in article 63 is the condominium's financial year, so the claim covers the charges approved for the year in which the sale takes place and for the year before it. Nothing in the text limits the claim to ordinary charges: the contributions in the approved statement of allocation are what count. The buyer who pays keeps a right of recourse against the seller, since the liability is joint, but recovering the money is the buyer's problem, not the building's.

The joint liability is also why the timing of the notice matters. Until the certified copy of the deed reaches the administrator, the seller remains on the hook for new charges that accrue, and a buyer who forgets to send it can find the previous owner still listed as the person the building bills.

Which document protects the buyer before the deed?

Article 1130 of the Civil Code, on Normattiva at article 1130, lists the administrator's duties. Point 9 obliges the administrator to provide any condomino who asks with a statement of the state of payment of condominium charges and of any pending litigation. That statement, usually called a liberatoria or attestazione, is the document to obtain from the seller before the rogito, and article 1130 gives the seller the right to demand it.

Most of those duties date from the condominium reform of Legge 220/2012, which rewrote article 1130. The same article requires the administrator to keep a register of condominium records with each owner's details and cadastral data, a register of assembly minutes, and an accounting register recording every movement within thirty days, and to prepare the annual statement and call the assembly to approve it within one hundred and eighty days. The minutes of the last assemblies show approved works whose instalments fall into the two years article 63 covers.

Deadlines in the Civil Code that shape a buyer's exposure

Duty	Deadline (days)
Record each accounting movement		+30days
Notify changes in owner data		+60days
Approve the annual statement		+180days

What should a buyer ask for, and when?

Ask the seller for the administrator's statement under article 1130 point 9 before signing the preliminary contract, and again for an updated one immediately before the deed, since charges keep accruing between the two dates. Read the minutes of the last two assemblies for approved extraordinary works and the instalment plan. After the deed, make sure a certified copy reaches the administrator so the seller's liability for future charges ends and yours begins on the right date.

The cadastral side of the same purchase is covered in our guide to the visura catastale and the atto di provenienza, and Spain's version of the same problem, where the community can claim the current year and three previous ones, is explained in our nota simple guide.

Two years of someone else's charges is the legal maximum, and the administrator's statement is the only document that tells you whether the figure is zero. AiMYNDi reads the statement and the assembly minutes together and flags approved works still to be paid.