Enforcing the Regulation Against a Buyer: The Rules

A condominium regulation can be enforced against someone who buys a unit when it is referenced or accepted in the purchase deed, or when the property-limiting clauses have been registered in the land registers. The decisive distinction is between merely organisational clauses, which govern the use and management of common areas, and contractual clauses, which limit rights over exclusive property: only the latter require stricter forms of publicity to bind the third-party buyer.

Two types of clause, two enforceability regimes

Not all regulation clauses share the same fate when the property changes hands. Organisational clauses in the strict sense, such as rules on stair use, lift hours or the criteria for splitting common expenses, are enforceable against the new owner simply by being part of the condominium regulation, which is presumed known and accepted on entry into the condominium. Contractual clauses that compress exclusive property instead follow stricter rules.

How a limiting clause becomes enforceable

Clauses that impose real limits on individual property, such as use bans or purpose obligations, have the nature of real burdens or reciprocal easements. To bind the buyer, one of these conditions is needed:

• The contractual regulation is expressly referenced and accepted in the deed of purchase of the unit
• The limiting clauses have been registered in the land registers under Articles 2643 and following of the Italian Civil Code
• The buyer has in any case accepted those specific limitations in writing

Without reference, acceptance or registration, the limiting clause cannot be enforced against a third party who bought in good faith: that owner remains free of the burden, while still being a member of the condominium for the common organisational rules.

Mention in the deed is no small detail

In practice the safest route is to reference the regulation in the notarial deed of sale, with the buyer declaring that they know and accept it. This reference makes even clauses limiting property knowable and binding. A seller has an interest in providing the up-to-date regulation to avoid disputes; the manager, in turn, should promptly release the documentation requested ahead of the deed.

The manager's role in the transfer of ownership

The manager is not a party to the sale contract but provides the information that makes the transaction transparent: a copy of the regulation, the thousandths (millesimi) tables, the payment status of the unit and the spending resolutions adopted. Orderly documentation reduces later litigation, because the buyer knows from the outset which burdens weigh on the property and which expenses they may face.

Beware of later amendments

Contractual clauses can be amended only with the consent of all owners, because they affect individual rights. A majority resolution of the meeting that purports to remove or alter a contractual clause is ineffective against those who did not agree. A buyer must therefore check not only the current text but also that any changes were adopted in the correct form.

Managing the regulation, tables and deed attestations in an orderly way is faster with a centralised digital archive. With AmministraPro the manager stores historical documents, produces payment-status attestations and tracks requests when ownership changes: the features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans on /prezzi.