How to find out whether you have protests in your name and how to cancel them

In short: protests in your name are recorded in the Registro informatico dei protesti of the Chambers of Commerce, which is public and can be consulted by anyone, for five years from registration. You can see them with a protest search on yourself, at the counter or online, or with Veryfy's Verifica Persona (€29), which also shows the presence of prejudicial records and proceedings in your name, with source and date.

How do I know whether I have protests in my name?

With a search in the Registro informatico dei protesti, kept by the Chambers of Commerce and open to the public: at the counter of a Chamber of Commerce, or online with the Telemaco service on registroimprese.it, searching by name. If nothing is found, you can request a certificate of no protests.

The register, provided for by art. 3-bis of Decree-Law 381/1995 (D.L. 381/1995), records protests made throughout Italy on bills of exchange, money orders and cheques. For each one it records the debtor (name, tax code or date of birth, domicile), the instrument (type, due date, amount, reason for non-payment) and the date and place of the protest. It does not record the creditor.

With Veryfy you run the same search in a single check: in the person funnel you choose the purpose "Verifica su me stesso" (check on myself), declare that the tax code is yours (the check is declarative, as for the other purposes), and the report shows the protests in your name with source and date and, when the source returns them, the amount and date of the protest.

Who can see the protests in my name?

Anyone: the Registro informatico dei protesti is public and requires no purpose. A bank assessing a loan, a supplier deciding on deferred payment, a landlord choosing a tenant: all of them see the same data you see with the search.

The confidential data (listings in the credit information systems CRIF/EURISC, Experian, CTC, and in the Bank of Italy's Centrale dei Rischi) are seen only by participating intermediaries, and you request them free of charge as the data subject: for the Centrale dei Rischi through the Bank of Italy's Servizi online portal, with a reply normally within 30 days. The public data you see immediately with Veryfy, and they are the same that anyone checking you can see. See how to find out whether you are listed as a bad payer and the hub what they see about you before you apply for credit.

How long does a protest stay in the register?

Five years from the date of registration, unless cancelled early: under art. 3-bis of D.L. 381/1995, the record of the protest remains in the register until it is cancelled or, failing that, for five years. After five years, removal is automatic, without any application. Earlier removal occurs only through payment within twelve months, an unlawful or erroneous protest, or rehabilitation; a protest paid after twelve months remains visible, with a note of the payment.

How do I cancel a protest paid within twelve months?

With an application to the president of the Chamber of Commerce, without going through the court (art. 4 of Law 77/1955). It applies to bills of exchange and money orders paid within twelve months of the protest, with interest and protest costs: you attach the receipted instrument and the protest deed, and pay a fee for each protest.

• Timing: the protest office decides within twenty days; if it accepts, it cancels within five days, and the protest is considered never to have occurred. In case of refusal or silence, the ordinary judge remains available (art. 12 of D.Lgs. 150/2011).
• Payment after twelve months: gives entitlement only to a note of the payment; to make the protest disappear, rehabilitation is required.
• Unlawful or erroneous protest: cancellation is requested with the same application (art. 4, second paragraph).
• Cheques: cancellation within twelve months concerns bills of exchange and money orders; for a protested cheque the route is rehabilitation. What an unpaid cheque entails, including in the Centrale di allarme interbancaria, is explained in cheques, protests and CAI.

How does rehabilitation of a protested debtor work?

Rehabilitation is the measure that causes the protest to be considered, for all purposes, as never having occurred (art. 17 of Law 108/1996). The entitled person is the debtor who has paid the debt and, after one year from the protest, has not suffered any others.

• Who grants it: the president of the court by decree, or a notary by notarial deed, on the application of the person concerned. Opposition is admissible against refusal (art. 13 of D.Lgs. 150/2011).
• Removal from the register: with the measure, you ask the Chamber of Commerce for definitive cancellation, ordered within twenty days (para. 6-bis).

How do I know whether there are seizures or mortgages in my name?

With a mortgage inspection at the Agenzia delle Entrate, free of charge for your own properties: seizures and mortgages are formalities of the land registry (Conservatoria) on a specific property, so they exist only if you own properties registered in your name, including in part. If you own none, there is no prejudicial record in your name, although protests may exist.

The online service "Visure, planimetrie e ispezioni ipotecarie dei propri immobili" is used from the Agenzia delle Entrate's reserved area with SPID, CIE or CNS, and is free of charge and exempt from taxes for the properties you own, including in part; online it covers only the computerised period, not the areas under the tabular land system (sistema tavolare). Anyone checking you runs the same search for a fee, on properties not owned by you. Veryfy, in the report on yourself, indicates whether prejudicial records in your name are present and, where available, how many, not the detail of the individual formality: channels and limits are in obtaining a protest and prejudicial record search on a person.

Where are these data held, how long do they stay and how are they cancelled?

What are the steps to cancel a protest in my name?

1. Check what is recorded: a protest search on yourself or a Verifica Persona report.
2. Pay the instrument, with interest and costs, and keep the receipted instrument and the protest deed.
3. Within twelve months, bill of exchange or money order: application for cancellation to the Chamber of Commerce.
4. After twelve months, or for a cheque: after one year without further protests, request rehabilitation from the president of the court or from a notary.
5. With rehabilitation, ask the Chamber of Commerce for definitive cancellation, within twenty days.
6. Check again with a new registry search.

If you are about to sign as a guarantor, see also can I act as a guarantor if I am listed.