Distinguishing owner and tenant in condominium software

Why keep the two figures separate

The owner is the condominium member to all effects: they attend the meeting, vote and answer to the building for the expenses. The tenant is not a member, but has a significant practical role: they use the services, bear some charges and in certain cases attend the meeting with the right to vote on matters within their competence, such as the management of heating and air conditioning services.

If the software records only the owner, the tenant becomes invisible and every operational communication necessarily passes through the holder, even when it concerns the daily use of the property. Recording both as distinct roles on the same unit record instead allows notices, allocations and access to be directed correctly, while keeping the owner as the reference toward the building.

Who pays what: ordinary and extraordinary

The split between owner and tenant follows a simple principle: whoever enjoys the property bears the costs tied to use, whoever holds it bears the costs concerning the asset in its value. Ordinary maintenance expenses and common enjoyment services, such as cleaning, energy for common areas and running the systems, typically fall on the tenant. Extraordinary expenses, which affect the asset, remain with the owner.

In the software this distinction becomes a table for allocating accessory charges between landlord and tenant. The building calculates the total share owed by the unit and charges it to the owner, who is the party liable toward the building; the internal split between the two figures lets the owner ask the tenant for their part. Some programs directly produce the allocation statement between landlord and tenant.

• Ordinary maintenance and enjoyment services: typically the tenant
• Extraordinary expenses and improvements: the owner
• The owner answers toward the building
• The landlord/tenant statement serves the relationship between the two figures

Voting and attendance at the meeting

The right to vote at the meeting generally belongs to the owner. There is however an exception under Article 10 of Law 392/1978: the tenant has the right to vote, in place of the owner, on resolutions concerning the expenses and the management of heating and air conditioning services, and has in any case the right to intervene, without a vote, on resolutions concerning the modification of the other common services.

In the software it pays for the tenant's role to be recognisable, so the manager knows who to send the notice of meeting to when the matter concerns them. Correct handling of notices and attendance is essential to the validity of resolutions, and having clear roles avoids forgetting who is entitled to attend.

Separate contacts and reserved-area access

Owner and tenant have different contact details and may have different needs for access to documents. Good software lets you manage distinct contacts for the two figures and give the tenant reserved-area access limited to what concerns them, for example operational communications, service notices and fault reports, without exposing the owner's personal accounts.

This separation also has value in terms of personal data protection. Processing must respect the principles of Regulation EU 2016/679, including minimisation: each figure sees only the data relevant to their role. Configuring differentiated access reduces the risk of communicating to one party information that does not concern them.

How to set up the two roles in the software

The flow starts from the unit record, where the owner is already present. You add the tenant role with their personal data, contacts and contract period, indicating that this is the tenant. Then you set the accessory charges allocation table, so the software knows which part of the expenses to attribute ideally to use and which to the asset.

When the lease ends, the tenant role is closed with a date, without deleting it, so the history of the unit's occupancy remains. If a new tenant takes over, the new role is recorded with its own start date, exactly as for ownership transfers.

• Open the unit record with the owner
• Add the tenant role with contacts and period
• Set the landlord/tenant accessory charges allocation
• Configure the tenant's reserved-area access
• Close the role at termination without deleting it

Clear roles, simpler management

Distinguishing owner and tenant in the software simplifies the manager's daily life: operational communications reach whoever lives in the property, allocations stay correct toward the building and the landlord/tenant statement is ready when needed. All this without losing sight of the fact that, toward the building, the member remains the owner.

AmministraPro lets you manage owner and tenant as distinct roles on the same unit, with separate contacts and access and accessory charges allocation. The features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans for your practice on the /prezzi page.

Frequently asked questions