Condominium meetings call procedure.

We wish to come back to the condominium law which is of relevance to many Australians owing a property in Italy.

We now draw your attention to the ruling no. 2237/2025 of the Court of Lecce, which addresses the issue of the procedures for convening condominium meetings and the related provisions pursuant to Article 66 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code.

The case:

Several condominium owners challenged before the Court of Lecce the resolution passed at the meeting of the Delta Condominium, requesting a declaration of nullity or annulment and failure to notify the meeting. They argued that the condominium meeting had been called by publishing the relevant notice on the condominium's website, specifically on the personal pages of the individual condominium owners, in breach of the procedures set forth in Article 66 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code.

The Condominium filed an appearance arguing that the notice should be considered valid, as in the year 2008 the Assembly had amended the Condominium Regulations, introducing the method subsequently adopted (publication on the website). It specified that such a change had become necessary due to the obsolete methods for calling the assembly, as identified by the relevant legislation.

The court found for the plaintiff providing the following principles:

a) Article 66 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code also provides for certified email among the means for calling the meeting: the current legislation, introduced after the amendment to the Condominium Regulations, therefore complies with the requirements of speed and certainty and is fully aligned with current notification systems; consequently, the methods for convening the meeting cannot be considered obsolete and inadequate to ensure detailed and analytical information, even when it is intended for multiple parties, as the defendant claimed in their appearance;

b) Article 66 of the Civil Code establishes that the meeting must be convened by notice delivered by registered mail, certified email, fax, or by hand delivery, and Article 72 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code establishes the mandatory nature of certain regulatory provisions, including that provided for in Article 66 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code. Therefore, according to the join provisions of Article 66 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code with Article 72 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code, the methods for convening the condominium meeting are mandatory.

c) Furthermore, the calling procedure in question (notice on the website) does not allow us to presume that the purpose has been achieved, requiring the condominium owner to voluntarily access the website and subsequently log in with their personal credentials;

d) Ultimately, as held by the Court of Avellino in its ruling, Section I, No. 1705 of October 8, 2024, methods of notice alternative to those provided for by current legislation can at best serve as informal and merely preparatory communications, but are certainly not suitable for establishing a valid convocation of the condominium meeting.