Regulations

REAL ESTATE AUCTIONS - PUBLIC AUCTIONS

Reference is made to the publication, in the Official Gazette no. 69 of 24 March 2015, of Italian Decree no. 32 of 26 February 2015, “Technical and operational regulations concerning the sale of movable and immovable property through on-line auctions in those cases where this is envisaged by the Italian Code of Civil Procedure, in accordance with Article 161-ter of the provisions for implementation of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure”

http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2015/03/24/15G00045/sg

The term “on-line auctions” is used to indicate the activities carried out from the moment the bidder logs onto the on-line auctioneer's portal to the moment the property is awarded or the highest bidder identified.

The regulation establishes a register of on-line auctioneers, i.e. incorporated entities authorised by the court to run on-line auctions. The application for inclusion in the register must contain the indication of one or more Court of Appeals districts where it intends to carry out its on-line auction service. Every on-line auctioneer is required to set up a computerised register of on-line auction commissions. The on-line auctioneer cannot participate, either by proxy or in person, in the auction for the property subject to proceedings pending before the courts, including the Court of Appeals for the district where the auctioneer is registered. On a yearly basis, the Ministry runs statistical monitoring of the on-line auctions held by the auctioneers.

On-line auction bids must contain, among other things, the bidder’s identification data with express indication of the tax code or VAT number, the court where the procedure is pending, data identifying the procedure and the property and a description of the property, the Receiver, and data regarding the auction. The minimum bid price and the terms for payment are also indicated, except in the case of requests to participate in an auction. During the auction or bid deliberation, pursuant to Article 572 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the judge or receiver verifies that the bid is in order and initiates auction operations.

The on-line auctioneer sets up, and displays on its portal, an automatic system to calculate the term fixed for raising bids.

The raised bids and observations of each bidder are posted on the auctioneer's portal and made visible to the other participants, and to the Judge or Receiver; the same shall apply for each determination made by the latter. The judge, receiver and clerk of the court can participate electronically in sales operations without public auction. Other parties can also participate in the same manner if so authorised by the judge or receiver. In any case, the on-line auctioneer’s portal ensures that the bidders can access the data contained in the computerised document referred to in Article 14, section 3, and replaces the names of the bidders with pseudonyms or other distinctive elements that ensure anonymity. The judge, receiver and clerk of the court can still access all data contained in the bid as per Article 14, section 2.

Ref. Chapter III (real estate property auctions) - Section I

The regulation envisages several forms of on-line auctions.

Synchronous on-line auctions

In the case of a synchronous auction, bids and participation requests may only be submitted electronically as per Articles 12 and 13.

Mixed synchronous auctions

When the court so arranges, bids and participation requests may be submitted in accordance with Articles 12 and 13 or on analogue media filed in the Clerk of the Court’s Office.

Those who have formulated a bid or requested participation electronically will participate in the auction in the same manner.

Those who have formulated a bid or requested participation using analogue media shall participate by appearing before the judge or receiver.

Without prejudice to Article 20, section 3, the data contained in bids or requests formulated on analogue media as well as raised bids and observations made by those participating in auction operations by appearing in person before the judge or receiver are reported in the auctioneer’s web portal and made visible to all those participating in the auction on-line.

Asynchronous auctions

The judge may order that, in a sale without public auction, the bidding takes place with raises made within a set time limit. The bid is presented only electronically in accordance with Articles 12 and 13.

Once the bids have been received, the judge or receiver shall hear the parties and the registered creditors who had not intervened, running the checks referred to in Article 18 and inviting the bidders to participate in a highest bid auction according to the procedures referred to in section 1.

The on-line auctioneer notifies the participants of each raised bid by sending them an email as per Article 12, section 1, letter n), and a text message.

At the end of the period of time allotted for the auction, the auctioneer notifies all participants of the highest bid as outlined in section 2. The auctioneer sends the judge or receiver a list of the raised bids and of those who made them, communicating the identity of the highest bidder, the bond paid by the latter and the price offered as well as the identities of the other bidders, the bonds they had paid and details of the bank or postal accounts that were charged. The judge or receiver carries out the sale and complies with Article 574 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Ref. Chapter III (real estate property auctions) - Section II