Buying a home from a private seller: how to check the seller (attachments, mortgages, protests)

In short: before signing the preliminary agreement and paying the deposit to a private seller, two different checks are needed. On the property, the mortgage search (ispezione ipotecaria) at the Agenzia delle Entrate shows the mortgages and attachments (pignoramenti) registered against it. On the seller, who is a natural person, the Person Check (€29) shows protests, adverse registrations (pregiudizievoli) and proceedings against them, with source and date.

How do I check whether the seller has attachments, mortgages or protests?

There is no single register that tells you everything. There are two separate questions, with separate sources:

• What encumbers the property? Mortgages, attachments, seizures and other formalities registered or recorded in the property registers. You see them with the mortgage search (ispezione ipotecaria).
• What is the seller's situation? Protests, adverse registrations and proceedings against them. They show whether they are under pressure from creditors, including for matters unrelated to the house they are selling you.

One check does not replace the other. A clean property does not tell you that the seller has no other debts, and a seller with no protests does not tell you that the house is free of mortgages.

What do you risk if you do not check before the deposit?

The deposit (caparra) is paid with the preliminary agreement (preliminare), and the deed of sale (rogito) comes later. In between, two problems can emerge:

• An encumbrance on the property that you did not know about: you find out the house is not free only after you have paid.
• A seller with creditors on their heels: if it is the seller who can no longer sell or refund, recovering the deposit becomes another problem.

There is also a legal risk for those buying from a debtor. Under art. 2901 of the Civil Code, the creditor may ask that acts of disposal of assets by which the debtor prejudices its rights be declared ineffective against it. If the act is for consideration, such as a sale, it is also required that the third party was aware of the prejudice. Ineffectiveness, the law says, does not affect rights acquired for consideration by third parties in good faith. In short: knowing who you are dealing with is the first defence, and learning it before is better than discovering it in a lawsuit.

About to pay a deposit to a private individual? Check the seller before the deposit: Person Check €29, single payment, no subscription.

When should the checks be carried out: before the preliminary agreement

The right moment is before signing the preliminary agreement and paying any sum. After signing you are already bound, and the deposit is already out of your account.

The National Council of Notaries (Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato) states that the notary, in the sale, carries out searches to verify that there are no prior mortgages, encumbrances or attachments by the Tax Authority. The source does not say at what point. If the notary is not yet involved when you sign the preliminary agreement, you carry out the check yourself, beforehand. In any case, ask the notary to repeat it, and to tell you what was verified and when.

Which checks to carry out, where and at what cost?

What to check	Where	Who does it	Cost
Mortgages, attachments and other formalities on the property	Mortgage search, Real Estate Advertising Service of the Agenzia delle Entrate (online or at the counter)	You, a qualified professional, or the notary	Online: €6.40 per name and €4.00 per formality consulted, plus any payment provider commissions (amounts stated by the Agenzia on 29/10/2026)
Protests, adverse registrations and proceedings against the seller	Person Check on veryfy.eu, with source and date	You, on your own	€29 (€49 in the Extended version)
Detail of the individual formality (type, property, date)	Mortgage search	You or the notary	As above
Protection of the preliminary agreement against later attachments or mortgages	Registration of the preliminary agreement (art. 2645-bis of the Civil Code)	The notary, if the preliminary agreement has the required form	Current fee: ask the notary
IBAN, email and website of the person asking for the deposit	Anti-fraud check, included free with the Person Check	You	Included

The online mortgage search of the Agenzia delle Entrate allows searches by natural person, by note and by cadastral data, with access via SPID, CIE or CNS and payment through pagoPA. It has two limits to be aware of: online searches cover the periods after computerisation, and Trento, Bolzano, Trieste, Gorizia and the other areas with the land-register (tavolare) system are excluded. For the rest, see adverse formalities at the land registry office (Conservatoria): what they are, with examples.

What does the seller check show, and what does it not?

The Person Check (€29) returns, on the person who is selling you the house:

• protests, with source and date;
• adverse registrations, shown as presence and, where the data is available, as a number;
• proceedings against them, with source and date.

The Extended Person Check (€49) adds offices and shareholdings in other companies and the properties registered in their name (Cadastre, national search). Properties registered in the name of a person are an asset fact, not a guarantee: they do not tell you what can be recovered.

Adverse registrations, however, do not come with the detail of the individual formality: you do not find the type, the property and the amount. For that there is the mortgage search. To understand the difference between protests, adverse registrations and proceedings, read extract of protests and adverse registrations on a person and adverse registrations from the court.

The report does not give a verdict on what the seller will do. It shows public facts, with the date on which they were read.

Can I check a private individual? The declared purpose

Yes, but not without a reason. For the Person Check you declare a purpose, in line with the Code of Conduct for commercial information. For this case the purpose is: "Verification of a professional or contractual relationship in progress or to be entered into with the person indicated". You are about to conclude a contract with that person, the preliminary agreement, and the check serves that purpose. It is not designed to pry into just anyone. For details on data processing, see the privacy notice.

Does registering the preliminary agreement protect me?

It is an additional protection, not a check. Under art. 2645-bis of the Civil Code, preliminary agreements for the sale of real estate must be registered if they result from a public deed or from a private writing with authenticated or judicially ascertained signatures. The registration of the final contract takes priority over the registrations and recordings made against the promising seller after the registration of the preliminary agreement.

Two clarifications from the text of the law:

• it does not cover what was already registered or recorded before: mortgages and attachments already in place remain, which is why the mortgage search must be carried out anyway;
• the effects cease if, within one year from the date agreed for the final contract, and in any case within three years of the registration, the final contract or a deed implementing the preliminary agreement is not registered.

With a simple private writing, not authenticated, this route is not available. Discuss it with the notary before signing.

Checklist: what to do before paying the deposit

1. Get the cadastral data of the property and the seller's full name, surname and tax code.
2. Run the mortgage search on the property (or ask a professional to do it) and read the active formalities.
3. Check the seller with the Person Check: protests, adverse registrations, proceedings.
4. If you are asked for the deposit to an IBAN, check IBAN, email and website with the anti-fraud check included.
5. If the preliminary agreement has the required form, ask for the registration under art. 2645-bis of the Civil Code.
6. Put in writing what happens to the deposit if an undeclared encumbrance emerges, and have it reviewed by the notary.

If you are selling or renting out a property yourself, the logic is the same in reverse: see how to check a tenant before renting out a home. If you are buying from a developer, the case is different: see home under construction: how to check the developer.

Check the seller before paying the deposit

The mortgage search tells you what encumbers the house. The Person Check (€29; €49 with offices, shareholdings and properties registered in the name) tells you whether the person selling it has protests, adverse registrations or proceedings against them, with source and date for every data point. Single payment, no subscription, anti-fraud check on email, website and IBAN included free.

Sources

• Agenzia delle Entrate, Online mortgage search, read on 29/10/2026 (search by natural person, pagoPA, territorial limits).
• Agenzia delle Entrate, Mortgage searches on properties not owned by the party searched, read on 29/10/2026 (amounts €6.40 per name and €4.00 per formality).
• National Council of Notaries (Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato), Classic Background Checks, read on 29/10/2026.
• Civil Code, art. 2645-bis (registration of preliminary agreements), read on 29/10/2026 on Brocardi.
• Civil Code, art. 2901 (ordinary revocatory action), read on 29/10/2026 on Brocardi.