Due diligence for real estate investments in Italy

Before buying a house in Italy, it is useful to get as much information as possible about the property and, above all, make sure to purchase from the rightful owner, for this purpose it is advisable to check the cadastral and mortgage data.

Important checks on the cadastral and mortgage situation of the property are carried out by the notary who draws up the deed of sale; in addition, the Inland Revenue (Agenzia delle entrate) provides citizens with some practical tools to know the situation of the property that they intend to buy (or sell).

 

It is also advisable to take information on the contractor's account in Italy, whether it is the seller or the buyer of a property, in order to ascertain its economic solidity and the degree of solvency; in the case of legal entities, the verification of this information can take place, in large part, with the retrieval of data in the chamber certificate and in the financial statements which are contained in the chamber certificate (visura camerale) issued by the business register at the chambers of commerce, also accessible online .

 

Cadastral survey

 

The cadastral survey (visura catastale) is a certificate which contains the technical and fiscal data relating to a property owned by a natural or legal person; there are different types of cadastral registration according to the required certificate concerns a property or land.

 

The cadastral surveys of a land contain specific identification data, such as: the province; the municipality; the so-called "mappale" map; class and surface; land income; agricultural income; personal data and tax code of the holders with the indication of the shares of ownership owned on the plot of land by an individual or legal person; section; sheet (“foglio”, it is the number of sheets used by the municipality for the cadastral registration in question), particle (particella) that is the subdivision of the cadastral sheet provided by the Municipality in case the property or building is sold; “subalterno”, that is another subdivision of the original particle.

 

The cadastral survey of property or building, or land serves:

 

- to those who need to know the identification and income data of certain real estate properties;

- to find out if a particular person actually owns the asset;

- to consult the cadastral update and to verify the correctness of the map where the property is located;

- to verify the cadastral income of the property for the purpose of filling in the tax return and for the calculation of IMU and IUC (both Municipal Tax).

 

The historical cadastral survey serves to verify the changes in ownership of the property, building or land that have been carried out over the years.

 

At any time, it is also possible to request the correction of any errors reported on the cadastral survey regarding the data of the property, building or land about the address, the house number, the area in square meters, the company name or the share of possession.

 

The cadastral registration is free for owners of property rights, or even only partially, using the Revenue Agency telematic services, or by contacting the provincial offices of the Revenue Agency or at the counter of the concerning municipality.

 

The mortgage certificate

 

The mortgage certificate (visura ipotecaria) is a document that is issued when the consultation of the real estate registers, notes and titles deposited with the Revenue Agency's real estate advertising services is requested. This consultation may concern:

 

- transcriptions are made in the cases of:

 

• transfer of ownership of an asset (for example: in case of sale);

• constitution of a real right of enjoyment on a real estate (for example: usufruct);

• publication of certain legal events relating to real estate (for example: division, purchase by succession, attachment, seizure);

- registration is made for the creation of mortgages on properties deriving, for example, from unpaid mortgages;

- the annotation is made when previous transcriptions, registrations or annotations are modified (for example, cancellations of mortgages and foreclosures);

- the formation of a property right, for example: by succession or donation;

 

So that, through the mortgage inspection it is possible to identify the owner of the property and if there are mortgages or pending burdens, even judicial, on that property.

 

The mortgage inspection can be requested at the provincial offices of Revenue Agency or online; in both cases, the service is free of charge if it is requested for real estate properties of which the applicant is the owner, even in part, of the property right or he owns other rights of possess (personal mortgage inspection) over it.

 

The mortgages can be:

- “against” the owner, they are included in the free consultation;

- “in favor” of a owner, they are not for free consultation.

 

If, on the other hand, the applicant is not the owner, even in part, of the property, the release of the certificate is on payment.

 

Company survey

 

The company survey (visura camerale) is a certificate released by the Chamber of Commerce which reports the legal and economic information relating to an Italian company, registered in the Register of Companies.

 

The chamber of commerce surveys contain the main legal, economic and administrative information relating to companies registered in the Register of Companies.

 

The certificate is release also online, also in English, it is valid for six months from the date of issue.

 

The contents of the visura camerale are:

 

- the personal data of the members,

- the address of the registered office,

- the date of establishment of the company,

- the REA code,

- the status of the activity,

- certified email,

- the tax code,

- the number of employees in the current year,

- data relating to share capital,

- participation in society,

- quality certifications,

- the VAT number

 

The balance sheet can be requested to the chamber of commerce in Italy jointly or apart from the visura camerale, also online; it is only in Italian.

 

The company certificate of chamber of commerce contains useful information to verify the existence of a company and evaluate its solidity, through it is possible to know the corporate composition of a company, directors and offices, it allows you to know future business partners in advance. In addition, the indications relating to capital, any company transfers, mergers or demergers encourage an understanding of the economic strategies carried out by a company. This helps to weigh your own choices of collaboration, investment or purchase more carefully also from the point of view of any risks.

 

The information contained in the chamber of commerce surveys is updated daily by the competent Chambers of Commerce located in the various regions.

 

To request a chamber certificate, it is necessary to be in possession of the company name and tax code, in the case of individual companies, or of the VAT number for capital companies.

 

The release of the certificate or of the balance sheet is not for free, but it is very cheap.