Dear reader,
Unlike many countries of the world, you live in a country that has a very strict regulation regarding the brokerage of real estate.
The reference standards refer to the civil code (1942) and the latest regulatory intervention on the matter (law 39 of 2/3/89). What do these 2 regulatory sources say regarding the commission to be paid to the real estate agent?
Why Do I Have To Pay A Real Estate Agency?
The legal reason is sanctioned by article 1755 of the civil code which in the first paragraph reads:
The mediator is entitled to commission from each of the parties, if the deal is concluded as a result of his intervention.
Subsequently, several cassation judgments intervened which established that the commission must be paid to the mediator only in the event that he actively worked to conclude the deal. One who takes you to show a house and then you make do with the owner because he does nothing else, theoretically he would not have the right to mediation.
How Much Should I Pay for a Real Estate Agency?
Originally the civil code, regulates the "measure of the commission", in article 1755, when in the second paragraph it writes:
The extent of the commission and the proportion in which this must be borne by each of the parties, in the absence of an agreement, professional rates or uses, are determined by the judge according to equity.
Subsequently, Law 39/89 also intervened which, in Article 6, paragraph two, states:
The extent of the commissions and the proportion in which this must be borne by each of the parties, in the absence of an agreement, are determined by the chambers of commerce, having heard the opinion of the provincial commission referred to in article 7 and taking into account local customs.
if we analyze the paragraph, it establishes 3 fundamental principles:
- Both parties (seller and buyer) are required to pay the commission
- The "measure" or the amount (percentage) of the basic commission is the result of a pact, or an agreement between the parties, therefore it is not something sanctioned by law. It can be 0.5% or 28% if the payer agrees.
- In the event that there is no agreement between the parties, we refer to the uses and customs collected in the lists of the chambers of commerce (chambers of commerce)
When Should I Pay a Real Estate Agency?
Another object of "litigation" (cool as a term, huh?) Is usually the moment in which the agreed amount for the commission must be paid.
If we pause at the first sentence of Article 1755 of the civil code, we see that the last sentence essentially says:
"the right of the broker's commission accrues at the conclusion of the deal"
When can a deal be considered concluded?
Here too the civil code does not leave freedom of interpretation because in the book according to art 1326 it writes very well and in simple words when a contract (and therefore the deal) is legally concluded.
And he says it precisely in the first paragraph:
The contract is concluded when the person making the proposal is aware of the acceptance of the other party.
This is why many agencies claim the commission once they have notified the acceptance of the proposal. The law allows it.
Having finished this preamble of law, we come to personal considerations.
In the real estate sector, can a deal be considered concluded once the acceptance of the proposal has been notified?
In over 10 years of this work I can put pen to paper that if a whole series of checks have not been made on the parts and on the property before accepting a proposal, the notification of acceptance is only the beginning of the joust.
A whole series of variables can come into play and if there is no figure who manages these variables, there is the risk of not arriving or, arriving there but with considerable delays and inconveniences, by deed.
Personally I ask for the commission when the preliminary is done only after I have actually done everything necessary to give the certainty to the parties that there will be no obstacles for the conclusion of the deal, and then accompany them to the notary who only has to certify the goodness of the process.
This for me is the right to commission. Everything else is a claim based on rules conceived in 1942, when there was no urban planning legislation, real estate law was not so rich in regulations and a handshake was enough to conclude a sale.
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