Condominium expenses and selling a property: who pays what

Condominium expenses when a property is sold are a frequent source of doubt between seller and buyer, because a sale almost always falls in the middle of a financial year, with instalments already approved and works perhaps already under way. The law sets precise criteria to determine who pays what, distinguishing the internal relationship between the parties from the protection of the condominium, which must be able to collect the sums owed. The main reference is article 63 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Civil Code.

The general rule: costs follow the moment of the sale

In the internal relationship between seller and buyer, the principle is that each bears the costs relating to the period in which they owned the property. The seller answers for the costs accrued up to the date of the deed, the buyer for those after. The reference point for setting the boundary, however, changes depending on whether the costs are ordinary or extraordinary, and this distinction is the key to the whole subject.

Ordinary costs

Ordinary costs, such as cleaning, energy, small maintenance and the administrator's fee, accrue over time. They are therefore split in proportion to the period of ownership: the part relating to the months up to the deed stays with the seller, the later part passes to the buyer. In practice the parties often settle this share directly at the sale, but the time-based criterion remains the yardstick.

Extraordinary costs

For extraordinary costs, such as renovating the facade or replacing the lift, what matters is not when the works are carried out or paid for, but the moment of the meeting resolution that orders them. Whoever was the owner at the time of the resolution approving the works must bear the cost, even if the sale takes place before the actual execution. This is an important rule: a buyer should always check whether there are extraordinary-cost resolutions already approved but not yet paid.

For extraordinary costs, the criterion is the date of the resolution that ordered them, not the date of payment or of the execution of the works.

Joint liability toward the condominium: article 63 of the implementing rules

The internal relationship between the parties does not bind the condominium. Article 63 of the implementing provisions states that whoever takes over a condominium owner's rights is jointly liable with the seller for the contributions relating to the current year and the previous one. In practice the condominium, through the administrator, can ask the buyer to pay what the seller did not pay for the current year and the year before the purchase.

The seller, in turn, remains jointly liable with the buyer for the contributions accrued up to the moment the transfer of ownership is notified to the administrator. Hence the importance of notifying the sale promptly and in writing: until that is done, the seller continues to be regarded as a debtor toward the condominium.

The right of recourse between the parties

Joint liability operates only toward the condominium; it does not change who must actually bear the cost. If the buyer pays the condominium sums that, under the internal criteria, were the seller's, the buyer has the right to recover them from the seller. This is why, before the deed, it is best to put in writing the state of payments and any outstanding items.

The administrator's role in the sale

The administrator has a central role in making the situation transparent. On request the administrator issues the certificate of the state of payments and of any pending disputes, a document the prudent buyer always asks for before signing. When the sale is notified, the administrator updates the resident register with the new owner's data and directs later contribution requests to them.

• Ask the administrator for the payment certificate before the deed.
• Check for extraordinary-cost resolutions already approved.
• Agree in the contract on the split of ongoing costs.
• Notify the sale to the administrator in writing right after the deed.

The most common mistakes

Typical mistakes are not requesting the payment certificate, ignoring extraordinary-cost resolutions already approved, and delaying the notification of the sale to the administrator. In all these cases the buyer risks having to pay sums they thought were not theirs, then relying on a recourse against the seller that is not always easy.

A particular case concerns funds and reserves set aside by the condominium, for example a fund for future works. Absent a different agreement, the share paid by the seller into these funds is not automatically refunded by the condominium at the sale: this is a point the parties do well to weigh in the negotiation, together with the state of payments and the instalments still open.

Managing the transfer of ownership with software

Management software helps track precisely the payment status of each unit, date the extraordinary-cost resolutions and produce the certificate required at the sale. AmministraPro keeps the resident register up to date, records the transfer of ownership and recalculates the positions between old and new owner, so the administrator handles the sale without disputes. You can see how it works on the features page or compare the plans in the pricing section.