Sale of a Unit: Who Votes, the Seller or the Buyer

When an apartment is sold, the right to vote at the meeting passes from the seller to the buyer at the moment ownership is transferred. The vote, in fact, follows title to the real right: from the day the sale deed takes effect, the new owner may attend and vote for that unit, while the previous owner loses standing. The rule is straightforward, but in practice it calls for attention to timing and to communication with the manager, to avoid someone voting at the meeting who is no longer entitled.

The vote follows ownership

The right to attend and vote at the meeting is tied to ownership of the unit and its thousandths (millesimi). With the sale deed ownership transfers and with it the voting right. If the meeting is held after the transfer, standing belongs to the buyer; if it is held before, the seller still votes. What matters is the date the deed takes effect, not the moment the sale is notified to the condominium or entered in the manager's records.

Notice to the manager

Article 63 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Civil Code links the incoming owner's position to notice of the transfer. Until it receives a certified copy of the title by which the transfer occurred, the manager continues to treat the previous owner as an owner for management purposes. Promptly notifying the sale is therefore in both parties' interest: it lets the manager update the condominium register, correctly convene the new owner and direct payment notices to them.

Joint liability for expenses

On the payments side, the law protects the condominium with a joint-liability bond. Whoever succeeds to an owner's rights is jointly liable with them for the contributions relating to the current year and the previous one. In practice the condominium may claim payment from either the seller or the buyer for those years, subject to the internal arrangements between the parties set in the contract. This mechanism prevents debts from remaining unpaid at the change of ownership and must be borne in mind by the buyer.

Practical consequences at the meeting

To handle the vote correctly after a sale, it helps to keep some fixed points in mind:

• The buyer votes if the meeting is held after the deed takes effect, the seller votes if it is held before
• The manager must update the register and convene the new owner once notice of the transfer is received
• The seller can no longer vote for a unit that is not theirs, even if the sale has not yet been recorded
• For the contributions of the current and previous year, joint liability between seller and buyer applies

If, by mistake, someone who is no longer the owner votes and that vote proves decisive, the resolution can be challenged under Article 1137 of the Italian Civil Code.

Preliminary contract, deed and early possession

The moment of the preliminary contract must be distinguished from that of the final deed. The preliminary contract binds the parties to conclude the sale, but does not transfer ownership: until the deed the seller remains the owner and keeps the voting right. Even the early handover of the keys, with the prospective buyer enjoying the property, does not bring forward the transfer of the real right: whoever holds the property pending the deed does not thereby become an owner with a voting right. Standing arises with the transfer effect of the final deed.

What the buyer should do

The buyer has an interest in immediately sending the manager notice of the transfer with a copy of the title, requesting an up-to-date statement of expenses and any arrears, and inquiring about resolutions already adopted with multi-year effects, such as extraordinary works resolved but not yet carried out. A clear picture at the time of purchase avoids surprises about the amounts due and the decisions the new owner will have to comply with.

Keeping ownership transfers, thousandths shares and notice recipients aligned is easier with dedicated tools: a management system such as AmministraPro records sales, updates the register and produces notices addressed to the correct owner, reducing the risk of letting someone vote without title. The features are on the funzioni page and the plans on the prezzi page.