Why Buying Through a Licensed Real Estate Agent In Italy Is Crucial
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Let’s state it clearly: in Italy only fully licensed real estate agents can work in the real estate business.
Only registered realtors can show properties to potential buyers and manage all the range of services related to properties sale/rent.
The thing is that in Italy you could come across people who introduce themselves as real estate agents, but who are not neither licensed, nor insured, nor registered at the Chamber of Commerce (REA Repertorio Economico Amministrativo as individual company, or Registro delle Imprese as an agency). It’s more likely that these fake agents try to approach foreign buyers who, in most cases, are not familiar with the national law.
What do you risk dealing with a fake agent?
A fake agent is totally against Italian law: according to our Codice Penale art. 348, he/she risks from 6 months to 3 years jail, and a fine from € 10.000 to € 50.000.
Who is a licensed agent
In Italy there are around 50.000 licensed real estate agents.
Our Civil Code defines the agent as follows:
A broker is a business agent who relates - even occasionally - two or more parties for the conclusion of a deal without being tied to any of them by collaborative relationships, dependence or representation (art. 1754 of the Civil Code).
The real estate agent is the only professional figure in this business field who can:
discuss prices;
give directions to one or both parties involved;
manage written proposals, requests, negotiations and contracts that indicate prices and conditions;
follow the phases of a negotiation or a contract relating to a property.
So to recap, ONLY a licensed real estate agent can:
Have clients sign a purchase or rental proposal;
Have clients sign a sales or rental assignment;
Register a preliminary agreement contract at the local tax office, as required by law;
Accompany clients to view properties;
Follow the negotiation for a sale or for a rent;
Follow all the phases of a rental;
Follow all the stages of the sale once a deal is closed;
Get paid for all the services above.
Important: no one who is not a licensed real estate agent, cannot carry out any of the aforementioned activities, even if in the presence of a professionally licensed real estate agent.
A provider of business can’t lead a client to a property and can’t in any way talk about prices: he can attend the viewing, but only if there’s a licensed real estate agent (who is the only one allowed to talk about prices).
According to article 5 of Law 3 febbraio 1989, n. 39, comma 3 (amended after the EU decision in 2019), people who work in field that is close to the same industry (e.g. architect, geometra, engineer, lawyer, accountants, banks or insurance employees) can’t be real estate agents.
Be aware that nowadays, in Italy, many phony “technicians”, with the excuse of consulting, asks a fee for having put the parties in contact and for having helped in closing the deal. This is ILLEGAL. Even worse, many private individuals (who doesn’t have any kind of license) often ask for their fee, rigorously in cash since they can’t get checks or any traceable payment. This last detail, in particular, is the first sign that something doesn’t add up.
The exam and the professional associations
A licensed agent is registered with the local Chamber of Commerce, which issues a certificate as proof of registration.
Getting a license is not very easy like many people believe. There is a 4-months course (minimum 80 max 200 hours) held by the local Chamber of Commerce through authorized training organizations. At the end of the course, there’s a written exams and an oral one: only after passing these tests, the license is released.
The topics of the course are appraisal, Civil law, Tax law, Public and private law, Administrative requirements, Banking technology, Urban planning principles, Building techniques and materials, and marketing basics.
An agent can be registered to different professional bodies, like
Federation of professional estate agents (FIAIP, www.fiaip.it)
Federation of mediators and agents (FIMAA, www.fimaa.it)
An Italian real estate agency’s website should show:
The license number (which is different from the VAT number).
The insurance number
The association to a business category
If you are dealing with an agent and on his/her website there aren’t these data, well, it’s quite risky.
The insurance
Every agent must have an indemnity insurance of Civil Liability that can cover the compensation claims from clients in case of damages that might occur (e.g. during visits). That is very important for you to know, as means you as clients are protected as well!
The fee
Unlike what happens in many other countries, where agents’ fee is paid exclusively by the seller, in Italy the real estate agency fee is paid both by the Seller and by the Buyer.
Only a real estate agent can request a payment for the mediation: no one else can claim this right!
Bear in mind that if someone asks you for money without being a licensed agent, you can report it to the competent authorities (the Chamber of Commerce or the Finance Guard).
Source: https://blog.weagentz.com/agenti-immobiliari-abilitati/
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