In the last quarter of 2017 Italy has introduced a new rule for the real estate transactions; it aims to provide stronger  protection to both the buyer and the seller.

Today, funds for the completion of purchase of Italian property could be held in a escrow account by the Notary in charge for the transaction.

On the other hand it is worth to precise there is no obligation to follow this prescription, as it is more about a specific buyer request.

Deposits connected with a purchase proposals, preliminary and/or Rent-to-Buy agreements are not included in this new law.

This law applies for those ongoing property transactions started before the 29th August 2017.

How it works?

The notary will hold funds until the deed of the sale has been filed/registered (up to 30 days since the signature).

Once the title registration is done, the buyer can be sure the purchase has been completed correctly and the transfer of funds to the vendor will occur accordingly. This provides protection to the buyer in the period between signing the deed of sale and its registration.
The notary’s duties:

– must have a bonded client account where the notary can receive funds from customers for the payment of property
– has no right to any interest eventually produced by the bonded client account
– can use funds only for  the payment of the designated property
 

This type of account benefits of a specific legal protection, so no creditors or other kind of legal issues can attack the funds.

 

Written by Avv.  Alessandro Clemente – The Italian Property Lawyer