Selling a Unit: Notifying the Condominium Manager

When you sell an apartment in a condominium, signing the deed before the notary is not enough: you must notify the condominium manager of the transfer by sending a certified copy of the deed. This is required by Article 63 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Civil Code: until that notice arrives, the seller remains jointly liable with the buyer for condominium charges. It is a simple but decisive step, because it marks the exact moment when the former owner exits from future debts and the new one fully enters the building's management.

What Article 63 of the Implementing Provisions Says

The final paragraph of Article 63 of the implementing provisions establishes that whoever transfers rights over a real estate unit remains jointly liable with the successor for contributions accrued up to the moment a certified copy of the title determining the transfer of the right is delivered to the manager. In practice, the sale is enforceable against the condominium only from the day the manager receives the deed. Before then, for the condominium the owner is still the seller, who may therefore be asked to pay the instalments even though the property has already been transferred.

This rule does not concern the internal relationship between seller and buyer, who may agree otherwise in the contract, but the external relationship with the condominium. The manager continues to treat as debtor whoever officially appears to be the owner according to the notices received.

Who Must Notify and How

The burden of informing the manager falls primarily on the seller, who has every interest in closing their own position. In practice the notice may come from either party or from the notary who drew up the deed. There is no mandatory form, but a method that provides certain proof of the receipt date is advisable.

• Send a certified or conforming copy of the sale deed, not a mere photocopy declared as authentic
• State the unit's identifying data (apartment number, stairwell, cadastral subdivision) and the new owner's details
• Use a traceable channel: certified email (PEC), registered letter or delivery with a dated receipt
• Keep proof of dispatch, because it fixes the moment the seller's joint liability ends

The Duty to Update the Condominium Register

Notifying a sale is intertwined with the duty, under Article 1130 no. 6 of the Italian Civil Code, to keep the condominium register up to date. Every change of data must be communicated to the manager in writing within sixty days. The new owner must therefore provide their personal details, residence or domicile and the cadastral data of the unit. If they fail to do so, the manager requests the update and, in its absence, may obtain the information and charge the cost to the defaulting owner.

Why It Pays to Notify Promptly

Delaying the notice exposes the seller to a concrete risk: if the condominium approves new expenses or closes a financial year with balancing charges, the payment requests will keep reaching them until the deed has been delivered. At the same time, a buyer who does not present themselves to the manager risks not receiving meeting notices, minutes and payment reminders, with the danger of unknowingly accumulating arrears and being left out of assembly decisions.

• The seller closes their exposure toward the condominium
• The buyer receives meeting notices, statements and official communications
• The manager issues instalments to the correct party without disputes
• Reminders and injunctions addressed to a former owner are avoided

The Role of the Notary and the Certificate of Standing

Although the law does not require the notary to handle the notice, in practice the deed often contains clauses on the allocation of expenses and the parties request in advance from the manager the certificate on the state of payments provided for by Article 1130 no. 9 of the Italian Civil Code. This document certifies whether the seller is in good standing and helps the buyer assess the two-year joint liability under Article 63. Notifying the sale and requesting the certificate are two sides of the same transition.

Managing the Transition Without Errors

For the manager, promptly updating the owner means avoiding chasing the wrong debtors and keeping the register, allocations and deadlines aligned. Management software such as AmministraPro lets you record the change of owner, update the condominium register and recalculate the instalments for the new titleholder in just a few steps, keeping track of the date the deed was communicated. You can see the dedicated tools on the /funzioni page and review the available plans on /prezzi.