Condominium documents to obtain after buying a home

After buying an apartment, the new owner joins a condominium community with rules, accounts and decisions already in progress. To avoid starting blind, it is essential to obtain the documents that picture the condominium's situation: bylaws, thousandths tables, latest reports, meeting minutes and the certificate on the status of payments. Some are requested from the seller, others from the manager. Here is the complete list and whom to ask.

The condominium bylaws

The bylaws contain the rules on the use of common parts, on services and often on the allocation of expenses. If contractual in nature, they may contain limits on owners' powers, such as bans on certain uses of the units. Knowing them before changing the use of the property or starting an activity avoids nasty surprises. The bylaws must be requested and read in full, including any later amendments.

If the bylaws are recorded or referenced in the owners' purchase deeds, their constraints follow the property. The prudent buyer checks the content already before the deed, but in any case must obtain a copy after the purchase.

The thousandths tables

The thousandths (millesimi) tables determine each unit's share of expenses and of voting at the owners' meeting. Knowing your unit's thousandths lets you verify the correctness of the installments and understand the weight of your vote. Both the general tables and any particular ones, for example for the lift or heating, should be acquired.

Reports and allocation plans

The reports of the latest accounting years show how the condominium's finances were managed, which expenses were incurred and how they were allocated. Together with the allocation plans and the budgets, they give a concrete picture of the current costs the new owner will have to face. It is useful to request at least the last two or three years to grasp the trend of the expenses.

• Latest approved final reports
• Budget for the current accounting year
• Allocation plans for ordinary and extraordinary expenses
• Cash position and balance of the funds
• Any arrears of other owners affecting liquidity

The meeting minutes

The minutes of the latest owners' meetings reveal the decisions taken, the works approved, the pending disputes and the hot topics of condominium life. They are essential to know whether extraordinary interventions, litigation or bylaws amendments are pending. It is advisable to request the minutes of recent years and, in particular, those that approved expenses not yet completed.

The minutes also help to understand the condominium's climate and the frequency of important decisions, valuable information for anyone joining a community they do not know.

The certificate on the status of payments

The manager's certificate on the status of payments and pending litigation is the document that certifies whether the seller was up to date with contributions and whether disputes are pending. Since the buyer is jointly liable to the condominium for the two-year period, knowing any of the seller's arrears is essential to assess the risks and, if necessary, to seek recourse. Ideally this document is obtained before the deed, but it should in any case be kept among the purchase documents.

The manager's contact details

Finally, the new owner must obtain the details of the manager in office: name, contacts and expiry of the mandate. It is to the manager that the transfer must be communicated with a certified copy of the deed, so that the register is updated and installments are charged to the new owner. Without this communication, installments could continue to be requested from the seller and the buyer would not receive meeting notices.

It is also useful to ask how the condominium communicates with owners, for example an online portal or the certified email address, so as not to miss notices and meeting calls.

Accessing documents simply and securely

The orderly availability of bylaws, tables, reports and minutes depends on how the manager stores and shares documents. A consultable digital archive lets the new owner quickly receive what they need, with traceability of access and respect for privacy.

AmministraPro offers a document archive and an owner portal from which to consult bylaws, reports, minutes and tables in a profiled and secure way, so the incoming owner immediately finds the purchase documents. The features are described on the /funzioni page, while the available plans are listed on /prezzi.