Judicial Appointment of the Manager on an Owner's Petition

When appointing a manager is mandatory but the meeting fails to act, any owner may ask the court to make the appointment. Article 1129 of the Italian Civil Code provides for this: judicial appointment steps in both when a condominium with more than eight owners has never appointed a manager, and when the manager ceases and the meeting cannot replace them. It is a remedy that prevents management paralysis and ensures the condominium has a representative even in the face of the participants' inaction.

The conditions for judicial appointment

Applying to the court presupposes that a duty or need to appoint exists and that the meeting, though prompted or convened, has not resolved. There are two typical situations: a condominium with more than eight owners lacking a manager, and a condominium left without a manager through resignation, revocation, death or termination, with a meeting that fails to arrange the replacement. In both cases the individual owner need not prove a specific harm: the absence of the representative required by law or by the condominium's needs is enough.

• A condominium with more than eight owners that has not appointed a manager.
• A manager who has ceased and a meeting that does not replace them.
• A meeting called several times for the appointment but inquorate or without a majority.
• A deadlock preventing ordinary management of the common parts.

Who can file the petition

Standing belongs to each owner, even to a single one and regardless of the thousandths (millesimi) share. No resolution authorising the action is needed, precisely because the remedy exists to overcome the meeting's inaction. The petition must be filed with the court of the place where the condominium is located. It helps to attach the documents proving the need for the appointment and the meeting's inaction, for example the minutes of inquorate meetings or the calls that produced no result.

The procedure in chambers

Judicial appointment follows the forms of non-contentious jurisdiction. On receiving the petition, the judge assesses the conditions, may hear the interested parties and rules by decree. This is not an adversarial trial on someone's liability, but a measure that fills a gap in representation. A complaint is allowed against the decree. The procedure is relatively quick, in line with the need to give the condominium a manager in good time.

Effects of the appointment made by the judge

A manager appointed by the judge has the same powers and duties as one appointed by the meeting: keeping the mandatory registers, running the condominium account, collecting instalments and paying suppliers. The meeting retains the power to replace them with its own appointment at a later time, because judicial appointment does not deprive the owners of the right to choose their own manager. Until the meeting acts, the judicial manager remains in office and operates in full.

Difference from judicial revocation

Judicial appointment should not be confused with judicial revocation. The former serves to give the condominium a manager when one is missing; the latter to remove a manager in office for serious irregularities or failure to render the accounts. They are two distinct tools, but they can meet: when the judge revokes the manager for irregularities, they may at the same time appoint a new one, so as not to leave the condominium uncovered.

Avoiding deadlock with efficient management

Many judicial appointments arise from poorly convened meetings or difficulty reaching majorities. Organising the calls, the agenda and the collection of proxies well reduces the risk of deadlock. AmministraPro helps manage calls, minutes and quorums and maintain continuity in the condominium's representation. The features are described on /funzioni and the plans on /prezzi.