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When a property conveyance takes place, the Italian tax laws stipulate the payment of certain taxes and charges which generally must be paid, at the time the notarial contract is stipulated, to the notary himself who thus undertakes the “irksome” task of tax collector. Such taxes are mostly payable by the purchaser. At the time of purchase, the system taxes the “wealth” indirectly manifested by the purchaser which consists of the price paid for the purchase of the property (so-called i

A sale or purchase proposal is a document the parties may sign before the conveyance proper. It consists, alternatively, of a manifestation of the owner's willingness to sell to a probable purchaser or a manifestation of a possible purchaser's willingness to buy from the owner: in both cases by acceptance of the proposal, believe it or not, the contract of sale is concluded and becomes binding for both parties. Furthermore, the purchase or sale proposal is usually irrevocable: the signato

It often happens that, after a prospective property has been inspected and chosen, substantial agreement is reached with the other party even if this is not yet formalized in written form. It is advisable to contact a notary at this early stage before signing the preliminary contract (the so-called “compromesso”). In the preliminary contract, both signatories undertake to stipulate the definitive sale contract by a certain date and on given conditions. The preliminary agreement (even i

The following are examples of what needs to be included in a proposal for sale or purchase and in a preliminary contract: - the precise description of the asset or assets; - the exact identification of the owner or owners and of the purchaser or purchasers; - the obligations of the vendor and of the purchaser; - the price of the sale and method of payment; - the conditions of the conveyance and relevant guarantees; - documentation of the history of the asset or assets; -

Notaries and real estates

Notaries and real estates

Notaries provide the community with a complex service, they carry out a public function of the State within the framework of an independent profession. The notarial deed not only regulates transactions between parties, but it provides added value in at least three respects: - a contract signed before a notary is unchallengable and hence it avoids expensive and time-consuming litigation procedures; - it is enforceable and hence it can be used to recover credits and it constitutes pri

The vendor has the right to receive the full amount of the agreed price from the purchaser at the time the sale contract is settled. Frequently the vendor has already received an advance payment on that price, generally as a deposit: in that case he will have the right to receive the difference to make up the full agreed price. The vendor has the option to allow the purchaser a deferral of payment, with or without interest. It is up to the discretion of the vendor (based on the trust h

As from 1 January 2006, it has been possible to meet the taxation requirements on some real estate transfers at the land registry's valuation, regardless of the price agreed and shown in the contract. The rule that first introduced the price-value concept was Article 1, Paragraph 497 of Law no. 266 of 23 December 2005 (2006 Budget); there were two subsequent amendments: Article 35, Paragraph 21 of Legislative Decree no. 223 of 4 July 2006, converted with modifications into Law no. 248 of

Following marriage, unless an explicit declaration to the contrary is made at the time of the ceremony, spouses find themselves in a shared property arrangement, this being the automatic legal regime in force in our system since 20/9/1975. This means that any purchase made by a spouse during the marriage is subject to legal community (or, simply put, is common property) with the other. The law excludes (to take a few of the more important cases) only assets acquired by donation or inherit

The rules governing this matter are extremely complex and may be schematically simplified by looking at a subjective profile and an objective profile. As regards the former, there are two main types of tax linked to real estate conveyances: stamp duty (imposta di registro) (and the related mortgage and cadastral taxes) and VAT. Whether one tax or the other is applied depends mainly but not exclusively on the nature of the vendor. Stamp duty is applicable in all cases where the vendo

The law (articles 2 and 3) provides that when entering a preliminary agreement, or any agreement or contract for which the purchaser takes on obligations and pays money in advance but does not immediately purchase the property in the building under construction, the seller must issue a bank or insurance surety bond that guarantees the entire amount paid and to be paid before the final conveyance deed (which coincides with the deed drawn up by a notary public). The surety bond is the very

The rule is applied when the purchaser explicitly requests it of the notary: even though the law seems to leave leeway as to the form and manner in which the request is submitted, it is certainly advisable for the request to be included in the body of the purchase agreement.

The purchaser's main obligation is obviously to pay the agreed price to the vendor at the time the sale contract is completed. Where an advance payment has been made as a deposit, the difference must be paid to make up the full agreed price. It is legitimate for the purchaser to request a deferment of payment, but it is not his right to insist upon it, it being left to the discretion of the vendor whether or not to grant this: the purchaser's obligation to pay the price in full derives fr

Italian law attempts to facilitate and encourage people to buy their own primary home (their so-called “primary residence” ["prima casa"]) through various reductions in taxes for the purchaser. Specifically, at the time of purchase, the purchaser pays 3% (stamp duty) if he buys from a private person or 4% (VAT) if he buys from a company (except for a few odd cases), plus a fixed charge for registering the transfer and mortgage (presently a total of Euro 336.00).A foreigner, too, may take advanta

The purchase of a home is always an important step in our lives. Just as the sale of a property also carries significant overtones: from investment decisions, to the reordering of assets, to the need for generational change. Whether it be the purchase or the sale of a property, it is not something to be taken lightly. Indeed, these are extremely complex operations that are full of pitfalls and that cannot be undertaken without the advice of an expert. Are you aware of the rights and oblig

A property conveyance gives rise to a series of rights and obligations for both parties. For a number of the rights of one of the contracting parties, there are corresponding and equal obligations of the other party, so that the vendor and the purchaser find themselves involved in an interactive web of expectations to be met and duties to be performed. While some of these rights/obligations, such as the payment/receipt of the purchase price and the delivery/receipt of the property, are

Home loans are generally guaranteed by a mortgage and so are the preserve, in our legal system, of the notary. The presence of the notarial profession has become more significant with the recent increase in the number of such contracts, a result of the lower cost of money (though this is still subject to fluctuations) and improvements in living standards that allow an ever greater number of citizens to aspire to the ownership of their home and often of a second home as well. Year after ye

After long years of waiting, the decree-law that introduces greater protection for the purchasers of houses that are in the process of being built has finally been published in the Official Gazette (6 July 2005, n° 155).  The measures introduced under this new law will have a major impact: indeed, according to estimates made by trade associations, since 1995 more than 200,000 Italian families have been involved in thousands of bankruptcies of construction firms. Decree Law n° 122 of 20 Ju

In general the purchase/sale is the contract having the purpose of transferring the ownership of a house or the transfer of some other right for the equivalent of a price;  more generically it could be said that the purchase/sale of real estate is the formal agreement by means of which one party, called the seller, transfers to another, called purchaser, the ownership of a given property against payment of the price agreed on. Our juridical system, in view of the extreme importance of rea

As may be observed above, the role of the notary is important in guaranteeing the statements the vendor usually makes at the time the sale takes place. In particular, the vendor is obliged to make known how the asset he is about to sell came into his hands. It may be that he purchased it for a consideration in the normal way, or that he has occupied it for a sufficient number of years to avert any danger of eviction. It may be, however, that the property was donated to the vendor or

In a property conveyance, right from what we have called the preparatory phase before the definitive contract, the notary plays a rather delicate and important role: determining whether in fact the vendor is free to sell the asset and whether the purchaser in his turn may legitimately acquire it. For example - to cite just a few of the more important aspects - the notary's tasks include certifying the personal identity of the parties (in other words that the vendor and hence the owner of

A conveyance differs substantially from an exchange, a donation or a division. In an exchange, there is the reciprocal transfer of certain properties from one owner to another: basically, this means one property is exchanged for another but the exchange may also be accompanied by the passing of a sum of money as a balance if there is a difference in value between the properties exchanged. In a donation, there is always, as in the conveyance, the transfer of real estate, but there is no

Sales must be subject to stamp duty (so sales subject to VAT are excluded) and the purchasers must be physical persons who are not acting in the interests of a commercial, artistic or professional business activity. So the price-value system also applies to sales made by companies, businesses or entities, so long as the purchasers are "physical persons" and the transaction is subject to stamp duty (not VAT). In other words, in addition to all sales where both parties are “private”, the price-val

A home loan is a contract whereby one party, called the lender (usually a bank), transfers a given sum of money to a second party known as the borrower, so that the latter may use it for a given time in exchange for paying the former an amount representing interest. To this outline of the essential structure and functions of the contract must be added that a home loan includes various clauses that are not always immediately comprehensible but are necessary for regulating all the relations

The sale contract includes the personal data of both the vendor and the purchaser, including their fiscal codes, the description of the property to be transferred with an indication of its location, its nature and its boundaries, as well as its identification at the land titles office and a number of obligatory pieces of information regarding town planning and building regulations. The vendor must declare whether the property was built before 1 September 1967; if the building took place a

In general terms, the conveyance is the contract that transfers ownership of an asset or some other right in exchange for a consideration; more generically, one may say that a real estate conveyance is the formal agreement whereby one party, known as the vendor, transfers to another party, known as the purchaser, the ownership of a particular property in exchange for payment of the agreed price. Given the extreme importance of real property ownership, our legal system not only requires th

The law completes the range of measures introduced to protect the purchaser by extending to the purchaser the right to parcel out the loan and the mortgage on the building being built, and the prohibition on selling before the division of the loan into quotas, or before discharge of the mortgage or foreclosure where these are not taken over by the new purchaser (Articles 7 and 8). The purchaser of a house to be used as his/her home has the right of pre-emption in case of an auction (Art.

First of all, the purchaser has the right to have the vendor consign the property at the time of the notarised conveyance, upon payment of the purchase price, in its known state, with any agreed accessories, free of persons and things. It is legitimate for the purchaser to request consignment of the asset before the definitive transfer: however it is not his right to insist upon it, it being left to the d

The Decree does not apply in general to all real estate transactions but only to those negotiations of buildings where the seller (called “builder”) sells a building that he or others have built (Article 1, paragraph 1, letter b). Hence the law applies not only to purchases from a builder (an individual or a firm), but also to the person or firm that sells a building built by a third party. According to the Decree a “purchaser” is an individual who purchases a building or who, even though

Another important innovation is that the builder, or seller of buildings being constructed, is obliged to take out an insurance policy which will protect the purchaser for at least ten years from any damages deriving from the total or partial collapse of the building or from serious construction flaws (Article 4).

As has been seen above, in order to determine the type of tax and the amount and means of payment of the sums due for duties on the purchase of a so-called primary residence, one must first of all take into account the nature of the vendor. When the vendor is the company that built (or renovated) the property and four years have not elapsed since completion, the conveyance is subject to VAT that the purchaser must pay directly to the company and not to the notary, along with the payment o

If a married person wishes to sell a property, it is necessary to check whether or not the consent of the other spouse is needed; If a minor or a person not of sound mind is the owner of an asset, a judge's authorization is needed for the sale as well as the intervention of that person's tutor or parent or legal representative; the same thing applies for a purchase by such persons; If an inherited asset is the common property of several heirs, before selling his share an heir must firs

In the first place, the vendor is obliged to consign to the purchaser the property sold in the state in which it is with vacant possession, free of persons and things, at the time the contract of sale is notarised, i.e. at the same time as the balance of the price is paid. The vendor has the option, however, of allowing the future purchaser to occupy the property even before the actual change of ownership, it being understood that because he is still the owner of the asset he remains resp