Down payment, down payments and penalties: how they work in Italian buying and selling (and why the foreigner should be careful)
December 8, 2025by Studio Legale Mauro
Dealing with down payments before the deed is the economic heart of the transaction. Many foreign buyers make the same mistake: they consider deposits and down payments as “money that comes back” if something goes wrong. In Italian law this is not the case: the legal qualification of the sums determines very different consequences. Down...