A property conveyance gives rise to a series of rights and obligations for both parties.
For a number of the rights of one of the contracting parties, there are corresponding and equal obligations of the other party, so that the vendor and the purchaser find themselves involved in an interactive web of expectations to be met and duties to be performed.
While some of these rights/obligations, such as the payment/receipt of the purchase price and the delivery/receipt of the property, are obvious, others are less so for most people, even though they are of equal relevance and importance.
In the first place, both parties must present personal identification (identity card, passport, driver's licence, etc.) and their fiscal code (better if this is done by presenting a health card which has replaced the old fiscal code card): the latter is necessary for the tax reporting the notary is obliged to perform; it is important to remember that foreigners, before the conveyance can take place, must apply to the Agenzia delle Entrate (Taxation Department) for the assignment of a fiscal code.
In the second place, vendor and purchaser must inform the notary of their marital status which is very important for the effects the property arrangements between spouses have on the validity and consequences of the transaction.
If they so desire, the parties need not be personally present at settlement, but may confer a notarised power of attorney for the sale or purchase of property, so that the representative thus nominated, who will be personally present before the notary armed with the authorization (which will be attached to the transaction documents), will do all that is necessary for the contract to be made good on behalf of the person or persons who conferred the power of attorney (this is very useful for foreigners who are abroad or who for one reason or another are unable to be present in the notary's office on the day of the transaction).
Moreover, as regards payments made after 4 July 2006, Article 35, Paragraph 22 of decree-law no. 223 of 2006 obliges both parties – vendor and purchaser – to make a declaration in place of an attested affidavit with details of the means of payment for the transaction.
So, as an example, the parties must communicate the number of the bank cheque or personal cheque used for the purchase price, whether it was transferable (forbidden for amounts over 12,500 Euros), the amount of the cheque, the number of the account on which it was drawn or the identity of the issuing bank. …; all of which is obviously intended to lead to the greatest possible transparency, for economic and fiscal reasons.
In addition, the parties must declare in the same way whether one or both of them have used the services of a real estate agency and, if so, the sum paid for that service and the details of the means of payment (the sale contract must also show the VAT code or fiscal code of the real estate agent).
Both parties have to fulfil obligations of a fiscal nature which, given that they vary according to the parties to the conveyance and other circumstances, are worth treating separately.