In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I'm neither a lawyer or an expert on this, but I'm not sure if the copy of the document as signed in front of the notaio is sufficient in itself to prove ownership, or if it needs to have been registered by the Province before it is beyond challenge.
In my case, the notaio gave me a copy of the Final Act signed by him, me, the vendor, his wife, the translator and two witnesses after we we had all signed the document and I'd handed over a stack of cheques. Less than two weeks later, I had a call from his office to come and collect papers. What I was given then was a bound copy of the Compravendita with stamps on it giving the Province's registration details (date and a record number) and a copy of a computer printout detailing each parcel of land I'd bought. The latter was headed [I]Agenzia del territorio - Servizio di pubblicita' immobiliare, Nota di trascrizione[/I].
As I said, this took less than two weeks: the Final Act was signed and money handed over on 7 September; the Province registered the transaction on 19 September.
I concluded from this that the time it takes for a property sale to be registered is largely determined by whether the notaio can be bothered to sort it out promptly.
Al
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Adrian Brown;81467]Completed purchase in May 2007. There is no mortgage on the property. Do I get any title deeds to confirm that we actually own the property. If not how to I so that I own the property.
Thanks[/quote]
I am certainly no expert but it does seem an exceedingly long time. I would contact the notaio concerned and chase him up. When we bought the house and then subsequently some extra land (different notaios involved) on both occasions we received the deeds within a couple of months.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Allan Mason describes everything perfectly, although it is common in my area for the owner only ever to recieve the 'complete' stamped atto in photocopied form, the original being held at the office of the notaio.
If you ask the notaio who carried out the act of sale they will give you either a photocopy or the original document; if you haven't been given one it is probably simply because you didn't request one!
Another indication that you own the property (open to examination by anybody) is the 'visura', which is the (nowadays) computer generated land registry record. These records can be searched either on name or on property details at any notaio's office, and many geometra's studios, or directly at the catastal office.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
To clarify: as Charles suggests, we have bound and stamped copies, the notaio holds the originals.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I agree with Anne2. We purchased in November and we got bound and stamped copies. The originals are kept by the "Notaio"
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I got no proof at our closing and I was freaking out a bit...not even a photocopy (!) Notary didn't have a photocopier that worked (!) anyway...Notary sent away for the deed (Atto) and she recieved it about a month later and posted the origional to me in the US.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
the real proof lies not in having a certified copy of the atto in your hands, nor in doing a visura at the catasto. The catasto is not always up to date with regard to ownership details, and even if you have a copy of your atto, you could theoretically have sold to someone else in the meantime, meaning you no longer own the property even though you still have a copy of the atto.
The definitive proof of ownership lies at the local Conservatoria where the deed (atto) is transcribed and deposited. Anyone can do a visura (search) at this office, including you, to see which deeds have been transcribed for which person or for which property, and this office is up to date and the results legally enforceable. The search will also show mortgages registered on the property and other encumbrances.
It's always a good idea to have a certified copy of your atto however. Just ask the notaio you used. He might have been waiting for you to go and pick it up. He would have been obliged to transcribe the atto within 30 days.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
ps, in answer to the question above, the contract being signed by the parties does transfer ownership, but if the vendor has sold to multiple parties in quick succession fraudulently, the first to transcribe the contract at the conservatoria "wins", regardless of the date the rogito was signed.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Just to add some information.
The notary must register the contract at the local "conservatoria" as soon as possible and within 30 days anyway, therefore he's legally responsable if he delays the registratio without reason.
The ownership is proved by the data contained in the public record (conservatoria) and not by the deed: a deed is needed to register the ownership at the conservatoria.
Hope it helps
You will have signed for the purchase before the Notaio and the vendors. The Notaio should, at that point have given you a photo copy of the document he read to you, and you signed - this is in fact the 'title deed'. The original he has to send away to have the sale registered and quite some time later he should contact you to say that your deeds have been returned to him and are ready for collection.
From the sale to the receipt of my deeds this took nine months.... it is Italy after all!