Working with an Italian estate agent
The commission is not automatic.
In Italy an agent has to earn the right to be paid, and the law says exactly when that right exists. Foreign buyers almost never find this out, because the only person who would explain it is the one being paid.
When you owe a commission, and when you do not
The trigger is not the keys. It is the moment the seller accepts your offer — which is much earlier than most buyers expect, and is why the rest of this page matters.
It is owed
art. 1755 c.c.
The deal was conditional and the condition failed
If your offer was subject to a mortgage being granted and the bank says no, the commission never arises: with a suspensive condition the right is born only when the condition is met. Be careful which way round it is, though. A resolutive condition — one that undoes a deal already done — does not take the commission back. Nor does having the contract annulled later, unless the agent knew about the defect.
art. 1757 c.c.
They only showed you round
Viewings alone, with nothing concluded, earn nothing.
art. 1755 c.c.
They stayed quiet about something that mattered
Where the agent withheld information that undermined the safety of the deal, refusing to pay the commission has been held legitimate — for instance a planning irregularity visible by comparing the title deed with the property itself.
Cass. 16623/2010; Cass. 34360/2025
Nothing is owed — but they may still ask for expenses
Commission needs the deal to be concluded; a refund of expenses does not. What it does need is that you gave the instructions those expenses were incurred on, and that they were really incurred and can be shown. A fixed sum already printed on the form is neither: it is a penalty wearing another name, and against a consumer a term like that is presumed unfair. Ask for the invoices. Usually there are none.
art. 1756 c.c.; art. 33 c. 2 Cod. Consumo
Two agencies are both invoicing you
One deal, one commission — split. Where more than one agent genuinely contributed to the same deal, each is entitled to a share of the fee, sized on what they actually did. The obligation is divisible, not joint: you owe one commission in total, not one to each. And an agent from an earlier round of talks that led nowhere has no claim at all, if the deal came about through fresh initiative unconnected to theirs.
art. 1758 c.c.
They will not tell you who the seller is
An agent who keeps the other party's name from you answers personally for the performance of the contract, and only steps out of it once that name is given. So it is their choice: name the seller, or stand behind the deal themselves. Say that out loud and the name usually appears. You want it anyway, and early: every owner listed on the land registry extract has to be there at the deed, and if one is missing the sale cannot complete.
art. 1762 c.c.
When you can walk away, and what it costs
The moment the seller’s acceptance reaches you, the offer is a contract. From then on getting out has a price — but the price depends entirely on why you are getting out, and one of the three ways pays you.
Until they accept, only you are bound
artt. 1326, 1385 c.c.
A condition you wrote in was not met
Nothing. Deposit back in full.
If your offer was subject to the mortgage being granted by a stated date and the bank refuses in writing, the offer simply has no effect. The deposit comes back, and no commission is owed to anyone — because the commission only arises when the condition is fulfilled. This is why the wording of that clause is worth more than anything else on this page.
Commission: No commission.
artt. 1353, 1757 c.c.
The seller is the one in breach
You get double your deposit back.
An undisclosed mortgage or seizure, unauthorised building work, an heir who never agreed to sell, a property that is not what was declared. Where the deposit was a caparra confirmatoria — which it is unless the paperwork says otherwise — you can withdraw and demand twice what you paid. You can instead insist the sale goes ahead, or claim termination and damages, if that suits you better.
Commission: If the agent knew and said nothing, the commission is also in play.
art. 1385 c.c.
You simply changed your mind
You lose the deposit.
The seller keeps it, and that is the whole point of it. The one exception is if the contract expressly calls it a caparra penitenziale — a priced exit — in which case losing it ends the matter and nothing further can be claimed from you. Without those words it is presumed to be the other kind, and the seller can pursue you for more than the deposit.
Commission: The commission is owed: the deal was concluded.
artt. 1385, 1386 c.c.
Deposit or part payment? Not the same word
A caparra is a guarantee and carries the double-back rule. An acconto is just an advance on the price: if the deal collapses it comes back, but never doubled. A seller who tells you "it is only an advance" is quietly removing your strongest protection.
art. 1385 c.c.
The move almost nobody makes
A preliminary contract signed before a notary can be registered against the property itself. It costs more, and it reserves your purchase for a year: mortgages, seizures or a second sale registered after yours cannot be used against you. Worth it when the deposit is large, or when the seller is a company, in debt, or separating.
art. 2645-bis c.c.
What they are obliged to tell you
The agent must pass on the circumstances they know, or should have known using professional diligence, that affect the value or the safety of the deal. It is a contractual duty, and breaking it costs them money.
They must tell you
Anything an averagely competent agent would have seen: a floor plan that does not match the rooms, an amnesty application still pending in the file, a mortgage showing on the title deed, a tenant in place, major works already voted by the building. And they must never state as fact something they have not checked — “it is all in order”, “it has a habitability certificate”, “it is 120 square metres”. There the responsibility is complete, with or without instructions.
They need not
Carry out technical or legal investigations — land registry searches, planning checks requiring access to municipal files — unless they were specifically instructed to. If your contract with them expressly excludes it, they are not liable for what such a check would have found, provided they told you as soon as they knew.
Cass. 19075/2012; Cass. 32264/2025
The moment that counts
Cass. 11371/2023
What has actually been awarded
These are not hypotheticals. Each row is a decided case or a rule with a number attached.
A floor plan or compliance report that did not match reality, visible in the papers the agent held, not mentioned
Commission refused or returned, plus the cost of putting it right or the loss in value. In one case the agent was ordered to hand back €10,620 of commission.
Cass. 16623/2010; Cass. 11371/2023
Unauthorised building work or a pending amnesty, known or knowable, not disclosed
Damages for the worse deal you took because you did not know — and the commission on top.
Cass. 11371/2023; Cass. 672/2024
False statements about floor area, habitability, service charges, absence of mortgages, or whether it is let
Damages, with no need for them to have been instructed to check anything.
Cass. 32264/2025
A mortgage or seizure shown on the title deed, or flagged by the seller, and not passed on
Damages. If you find out before completion, you can pull out for the seller’s breach and claim double your deposit.
artt. 1759, 1385 c.c.
The agent took your deposit in their own name, or passed it to the seller before the condition was met
Return of the money, and liability for the escrow they were supposed to hold.
art. 1759 c.c.
Unfair terms in their standard form — penalty equal to the commission, automatic renewal, disclaimers of liability
The clause is void, and a penalty can be reduced by the court.
Cod. Consumo artt. 33-36; AGCM 2014; art. 1384 c.c.
What is not enough
Cass. 32264/2025; Cass. 19075/2012
Keep everything
The burden of proving the loss is yours. Keep everything in writing: the listing, the messages, the emails, the offer, every statement they made.
If you have already paid one
A lot of commissions did not have to be paid
Not less — nothing at all, with the agency having to give back everything you already paid. It happens more often than anyone will tell you, because the law is precise about when an agency has earned its commission, and almost nobody goes back to check whether it had.
Whether it happened to you, this page cannot say. It takes going through your own papers one at a time — the mandate, the offer, the invoice — and then a letter that has to be right first time.
Ten questions to ask before you work with an agency
Ask them in one message, in writing. How they answer tells you as much as what they answer. Keep every reply: months from now, the written record of who did what is the only thing that settles a commission dispute.
- 01Your professional indemnity policy — number and insurer.
- 02The commission, whether VAT is included, and the exact moment it becomes due.
- 03What happens to the commission if my mortgage is refused, or if defects come to light.
- 04Who holds the deposit cheque, and whose name is on it.
- 05Which documents you have today: title deed, land registry extract, floor plan, building permits, energy certificate, condominium papers.
- 06Has the agency verified anything? What exactly, and where is that written down?
- 07Does the property have building applications in progress, pending amnesties, a habitability certificate?
- 08May I have a technical check done before I make an offer, or make it a condition of the offer?
- 09May I take your form home and have it translated before I sign?
Before you sign their form
Everything above tells you what the law gives you. What it does not tell you is what this particular purchase costs, or which of the documented traps apply to it. That is what the calculator is for, and it is free.
Checked on 25 Aug 2026
This page states documented rules with their sources. It is not legal advice: for your own case, take it to a lawyer.