Buyer paying the seller's debts: the right of recourse

The buyer of a unit in a condominium is jointly liable to the condominium for contributions of the current year and the previous one, even if accrued before they became the owner. If they pay sums that are the seller's responsibility, however, they do not bear them definitively: they have a right of recourse against the seller to recover them. This right operates between the parties and must be understood and documented to be enforced. Let us see how it works.

Joint liability to the condominium and internal relations

Two levels must be distinguished. Toward the condominium, Article 63 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Civil Code makes the buyer jointly liable with the seller for the two-year period, so the condominium has an extra debtor to rely on. Between seller and buyer, instead, each bears the expenses arising when they were the owner, unless otherwise agreed.

The right of recourse arises from this distinction. If the condominium turns to the buyer and obtains payment of contributions that, between the parties, were the seller's, the buyer has paid another's debt and can ask for reimbursement from the party who was the real obligor.

The basis of recourse

The right of recourse of the joint debtor who pays the whole is a general principle of joint obligations set out in the Italian Civil Code. Whoever performs beyond their share can claim from the other co-debtors the part due by them. Applied to a sale, it means that the buyer who pays contributions attributable to the seller can act for reimbursement.

The measure of recourse corresponds to what, between the parties, was not the buyer's responsibility. If the expenses related to periods when the unit was still the seller's, the buyer can recover them in full, unless the contract provided otherwise.

Which expenses can be recovered

The guiding criterion is the temporal and economic attribution of the expense between the parties. The nature of the contribution and the moment the obligation arose must be examined. Some typical cases help to get oriented.

• Ordinary contributions relating to periods of the seller's possession
• Shares of extraordinary expenses approved before the sale
• Settlements of reports approved for years prior to the transfer
• Two-year-period sums paid by the buyer but attributable to the seller
• Interest and recovery costs charged for the seller's arrears

The role of the agreement between the parties

Recourse operates unless otherwise agreed. The parties may have established a different allocation in the preliminary contract or the deed, for example charging the buyer with works approved before the sale in exchange for a price discount. In that case the buyer cannot then seek recourse for those sums, because they have already assumed them contractually.

That is why it is essential to read the deed's condominium clauses carefully. Recourse presupposes that the expense was, between the parties, the seller's and that it was not transferred to the buyer by an express agreement.

How to document recourse

To enforce recourse the buyer must prove they paid and that the sum was the seller's responsibility. Useful items are the receipt of payment to the condominium, the report or resolution identifying the period of the expense and the manager's certificate on the status of payments as of the sale date. These documents link the outlay to the seller's debt.

Before acting it is advisable to send the seller a written request for reimbursement, indicating the sums and the supporting titles. Many disputes are settled at this stage, without the need to go to court.

Preventing disputes with pre-closing transparency

Recourse is a subsequent remedy, but the best way to avoid it is transparency before the deed. Requesting the manager's certificate, checking arrears and resolutions and settling everything in the deed minimizes the sums to be recovered later. Fewer uncertainties before, fewer disputes after.

Clear accounting data supporting the parties

Effective recourse rests on clear documents: who owed what, for which period, in what amounts. When the manager has orderly reports, a history of resolutions and certificates on the status of payments, both buyer and seller can precisely reconstruct the attributions and settle any recourse without uncertainty.

AmministraPro produces statements on the status of payments, keeps a history of reports and resolutions and tracks payments per unit, giving the parties the documents useful to define any recourse. The features are described on the /funzioni page, while the available plans are listed on /prezzi.