Ram's activity

 Those countries not bordering the Med to the north east? -  Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria Romania? - I didnt know there were many incomers from there?!!!!

 suzuki jimmy 4x4 - they go everywhere, and cost nothing to run.

 Well done! As regards not being in Europe because we dont have the euro - perhaps, just perhaps understandable.BUt I get this:  So you're English, You're anglicano - (ie not catholic) - Do you have Christmas?   Added to - 'Are anglicans Christians?' and do Anglicans believe in God - it shows we have a way to go to be European!   

 I have just completed on one of these sales - it was a long process but came out right in the end.  The client wanted to buy one particella from a landowner (farmer) with over 80 hectares.   He has ipoteche up tot his eyeballs.   The judge gave a preliminary ruling on how much the property should be sold for, and the creditors informally agreed.  A second udienza, and the judge and creditors made is a formal judgement and the sale could go ahead.  On the day of the act the payment was made direct to the creditors in the way laid out by the judge, with the owner getting nothing.  The notaio and the judge liaised before the act so there was  no need for the creditors to be present - the cheques were made payable direct to the creditors and the notaio hot footed it to the judge with teh cheques immediately after the act, got it OK'd and then registered the act.  Not that Id want to do one a week, mind you, but it is possible! 

 There is a huge difference between a progetto and a progetto approvato.  If the owners had submitted the plans and released them they would have had to pay the oneri to the comune which is a percentage of the overall works - so its not that unusual to have plans and projects with no approval.  However, the comune is where you will have to go.  Depending on their filing system planning applications are filed under name or address.  Alternatively you could speak to the geometra who drew up the plans.  

 It all depends whether the debt is greater than the amount you are paying for the property.   If not, a notaio should be able to sort something out - retaining the outstanding debts to be paid off on the day of the act - but it will require the agreement and presence of the outstanding creditors, and the agreement of the vendor - who seems quite happy to let everything slide.  It is also possible that you will need a judges decision to allow the sale of the property - in which case it could take time.  If the value of the property is less than that of the debts - a judge can allow the sale, with the agreement of the creditors whereby the sum realised goes to pay the creditors.  Usually, a vendor will want an underdeclaration to allow him to bung a fair bit of cash in his pocket - not worth the risk.  If you are reasonably sure that the vendor is being honest about how much is outstanding and isnt hiding anything you can edge forward at least paying for all the visure which will confirm whether he's telling the truth.  If the debt is less than the property is worth, as long as the vendor plays by your rules, theres no reason why you cant go ahead.   Id also ask the lawyer to give a detailed estimate of costs and the 'big legal bill' - if the vendor plays ball there is no reason why you should be faced with a large bill - most of what the lawyer will be doing will be done by a good  notaio. 

 It seems to me that four years ago she read Under the Tuscan Sun and thought 'I could do better' so they made a  five year plan - go to rural Italy, set up a business come back and write about it,.  Cash in.  And it seems its all going to plan.  I have no sympathy - they decided to come to Italy knowing nothing about it, still less the language, they live vicariously in London becasue they require 'the presence of others' - But thats all you're going to get - Seas of anonymity.  I worked in tv in the Uk and the pleasure of not being involved in vacuous networking, hanging on the coat tails of some non-celebrity who could make or break your next show is more than palpable.   I have clients who have moved to Italy, and are shocked that here they are just the neighbour, but in the Uk they were somebody and that is the nub of it - probably no more so than in the media where you can have long conversations without any eye contact because everyones looking to see if someone more worth knowing has just walked through the door.   end of rant.  

 Now it gets more complicated - do you know which sort of company it is?  If its an srl - its the equivalent of a limited company - and to be honest I dont know if there is a 20 year limit on company debt - The owner probably wont pay to do the visure ipotecaria - they cost!  It also means that you will need the legal representative of the company to sort out these things.  If its not an srl but a società semplice the owners are personally liable for debts.

 ipoteche giuridiche are enforced loans on properties due to nonpayment of debts - whether a mortgage or anything ranging from ICI, nonpaid speeding fines etc - and they do mount up.Obviously without seeing the paperwork I cant tell you what they are for - but there is a scadenza of 20 years for some debts - it depends what they are.  If there have been attempts at repossession its a different matter - Have you done the visure ipotecarie?  Your notaio should give you sound advice on these - I assume you are buying.  Your vendor should have stated in his compromesso that he obliges himself to sell the property without vincolo o peso, and this includes debt and ipoteca.  It is technically not your problem, but the vendor should sort out these ipoteche before any act of sale- otherwise you will take them on.  The notaio should retain the amount of the debt from the vendor until he has proof that the debt is paid.  Also, you need to do visure not only on the property itself, but also on the vendor to see if there other debts outstanding. 

 Oooh Adriatica! - The cost of living in Sicily is much lower than on the mainland - but then wages are also much lower - 600 euro a month (net) is a standard wage in Sicily - and as I said 'excluding the car' you can get by fine on that if you dont want Versace, Sky multivision and a daily delivery from Amazon books! Regarding the taxes though, its a different argument.  Berlusconi is doing exactly what Thatcher did in Britain in the early 80's - pile up the indirect taxes, and 'cut' the direct taxation - the overall buren rises but the apparent tax burden is less - Europe does not control member states taxation regimes, at least not for the most part - it is purely a political choice by the party in power.  Prodi raised taxes I agree, but also tried to cap a crippling national debt that Belrlusoni is allowing to soar and could bring about the ejection of Italy from the eurozone - and that would be catastrophic to a heavily indebted economy such as Italy.    Prodi also started the long, very long, process of cutting down on fiscal evasion whcih will eventually negate the need for further tax rises. italy, as all western countries know has a time bomb with pension provision and health care and taxes will have to rise steeply to pay for a rapidly ageing population in need of hospitalisation.  In Italy, with the interest of organised crime and the strange way provinces are funded, there is too much 'lost at source' but even this wouldnt fill the black hole.  ICI was removed as a purely votecatching ploy - it doesnt cost central government hardly anything and merely penalises the comunes who have to provide services with less money in the kitty - hence the rise in TARSU and water rates and all the rest. Quality of life is a fair index to use, in addition to purely economic indices - your coffee may cost a little more but at least you can drink it in a nice place - it's the choice we all make all the time whether we live in Italy or London.