Sharing a defaulting owner's data with creditors: the rules

When a condominium supplier remains unpaid, it can ask the manager for the data of defaulting owners in order to act against them. Providing them is not a privacy breach: it is a legal duty under Article 63 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Civil Code, which finds a solid legal basis in the GDPR. Quite different, however, is posting defaulters' names on the notice board or communicating them to the other owners: that can amount to unlawful processing. Let us look at the line.

The duty towards creditors

Article 63 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Civil Code states that the condominium's creditors cannot act against owners who are up to date with payments until they have first pursued the other debtors. To exercise this right, the creditor needs to know who has paid and who has not. The manager is therefore required to provide, to a creditor who requests it, the data of the defaulting owners, indicating the sums due. It is a duty flowing directly from the law.

The legal basis in the GDPR

Sharing this data does not require the defaulter's consent. The legal basis is compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject, under Article 6 of the GDPR. Because the communication is made in execution of a legal rule, the manager not only may but must provide the information to a creditor who lawfully requests it. Refusing would expose the manager to liability towards that creditor.

Only to creditors with a claim, not to anyone

The duty of communication is limited. The legitimate recipients are the condominium's creditors, typically suppliers holding a claim documented by a title or a contractual relationship. It is not permitted to disclose defaulters' data to parties unconnected to the credit relationship, nor to turn the duty into a licence for generalised disclosure. The communication must be limited to the necessary data, namely the defaulter's name and the amount, without adding excessive information.

What is not allowed: the notice board and other owners

The other side is clear. Posting defaulters' names on the notice board, in a place accessible to anyone, or communicating them to the other owners during ordinary management, is not covered by any legal duty and is regarded as disproportionate processing. The Italian data protection authority has intervened several times to censure the public display of debt situations. The aim of prompting payment does not justify public shaming: reserved tools exist, such as the individual reminder, to obtain the same result without exposing the person.

• Allowed: giving the defaulter's data to a condominium creditor who requests it.
• Allowed: indicating to the creditor the name and amount due, nothing more.
• Forbidden: posting defaulters' names on the notice board or in common areas.
• Forbidden: disclosing named defaults to other owners or in a chat.
• Forbidden: sharing data with parties who hold no claim against the condominium.

The report and internal transparency

Internal transparency of management is a separate matter. Owners have the right to know the condominium's financial situation and may examine the state of payments through the annual report and accounting documents, because one owner's default affects the common accounts. This internal access, functional to management, differs from public disclosure: it is exercised towards those who have a qualified interest in the life of the condominium, not towards outsiders.

How to protect the manager

To act correctly, the manager should keep a record of the requests received from creditors and of the communications made, so as to be able to show that they acted in compliance with a legal duty and within the necessary limits. The manager should also resist pressure to make defaults public, explaining that the correct route is the reserved reminder and, if needed, recovery action. Orderly documentation is the best protection in the event of a complaint.

Keeping debt positions under control, sending reserved individual reminders and handling creditors' requests with traceability is easier with dedicated software: AmministraPro supports the condominium's accounting with recovery and communication tools. The features are described on the features page and the plans on the pricing page.