I know exactly what a can of worms you have opened! We have experienced the same with my mother in laws house. There has been a change in the law and now the geometra has to sign a document for the notary saying that the property is exactly as the deeds says it is. The punishment for not doing so I believe is harsh. Previously Notaries didn't bother because everybody made alterations and nobody got planning permission and it didn't matter. It does now; you can’t sell your house without these permissions being granted retrospectively and fines being paid even if you didn’t make the alterations. In the case of my mother laws house the original builder made small changes as he was building the house in 1920, some rooms were slightly smaller, some were slightly bigger, obviously the council isn't asking for the house to be re built but permission and a fine will have to be paid. Every owner since then has made small changes internally so did my parents in law. A lot will depend on the council as to how harsh they are about it all. I wish I could offer some reassuring words but since we applied for these changes to be recognised in October 2011 we are still waiting for the approval and reckoning of the charges, it is a frustrating and slow process. We have been fortunate as we managed to sell the house last year; the notary was very understanding and accepted the paperwork from the council that it was all in hand as sufficient to proceed with the sale. He did hold back 20000 Euro as a guarantee that it would all be completed and we cannot access that money until it is. The council that we applied to was Viareggio, but the paperwork then had to go to Lucca for approval. Lucca were difficult even though the paperwork had been agreed by Viareggio, they kept insisting on changes to the documents and asking for photos of various things You have my sympathy, good luck
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What happened in September 1967??
I know exactly what a can of worms you have opened! We have experienced the same with my mother in laws house. There has been a change in the law and now the geometra has to sign a document for the notary saying that the property is exactly as the deeds says it is. The punishment for not doing so I believe is harsh. Previously Notaries didn't bother because everybody made alterations and nobody got planning permission and it didn't matter. It does now; you can’t sell your house without these permissions being granted retrospectively and fines being paid even if you didn’t make the alterations. In the case of my mother laws house the original builder made small changes as he was building the house in 1920, some rooms were slightly smaller, some were slightly bigger, obviously the council isn't asking for the house to be re built but permission and a fine will have to be paid. Every owner since then has made small changes internally so did my parents in law. A lot will depend on the council as to how harsh they are about it all. I wish I could offer some reassuring words but since we applied for these changes to be recognised in October 2011 we are still waiting for the approval and reckoning of the charges, it is a frustrating and slow process. We have been fortunate as we managed to sell the house last year; the notary was very understanding and accepted the paperwork from the council that it was all in hand as sufficient to proceed with the sale. He did hold back 20000 Euro as a guarantee that it would all be completed and we cannot access that money until it is. The council that we applied to was Viareggio, but the paperwork then had to go to Lucca for approval. Lucca were difficult even though the paperwork had been agreed by Viareggio, they kept insisting on changes to the documents and asking for photos of various things You have my sympathy, good luck
Thank you Fillide for a clear and interesting article