Court-appointed custodians and property viewings at auction: how to book a visit and what to check

With the seizure, the debtor becomes by law the custodian of their own property, without pay (art. 559, para. 1, c.p.c.). In practice, however, the judge usually replaces them. Within fifteen days of the filing of the mortgage and cadastral documents, together with the appointment of the appraiser, the judge appoints a custodian chosen from a list of professionals kept at the court, or the court sales institute (Istituto Vendite Giudiziarie, IVG). The custodian can also be the sale delegate (the professional delegated to the sale): their name and contact details are in the notice and on the lot's page.

Their duties, under art. 560 c.p.c., are:

• To ensure that the debtor and the family, if they live there, keep the property with care.
• With the judge's authorization, to manage it, for example collecting rent if it is leased, and to render an account of the management.
• To organize viewings for potential buyers according to the methods set by the judge.
• To carry out the vacating order without the formalities of eviction enforcement (arts. 605 ff. c.p.c.) and at no cost to the winning bidder, unless the winning bidder releases the custodian from this duty.

The rules on vacating change with the date of the seizure: you will find them in occupied property and vacating.

For a buyer, the custodian is the person in the procedure who has been in the property most recently. The appraiser saw it once, sometimes many months before the auction; the custodian goes back and knows who lives there today.

1. Find the lot on the Public Sales Portal. If you found it on ImmobilScan, the auction page gives the custodian's name and links to the official notice.
2. On the notice page, in the section on the property, use the viewing booking request and fill in the form with your details and contact information. If the function is not available for that property, use the custodian's contact details given in the notice.
3. The request is sent by email to the address indicated by whoever published the notice, which may differ from the custodian. According to the Ministry's back-office manual, only the person in charge of viewings in that procedure reads the requests for that property.
4. The custodian contacts you to set the day and time.

The PVP channel keeps the request confidential: no one except the custodian knows how many people are interested. For procedures subject to the former art. 560, the law requires the request to go through the portal. For others, the orders provide for it, such as the order of the Siena court or the provisions of the Lodi court. A direct phone call to the custodian may work, but without a trace on the portal you have nothing to rely on if the viewing does not take place.

It depends on the date of the procedure. If the seizure was served on or before February 28, 2023, the former art. 560 applies: anyone who wants to bid has the right to examine the property within fifteen days of the request made on the PVP. For more recent procedures, the reformed art. 560 refers to the methods set by the judge's order.

In Siena, for example, a 2026 order provides that the custodian accompanies those who requested a viewing on the PVP at least fifteen days before the bid deadline. Later requests are handled only if the custodian has time.

Work backwards from the auction date. If bids are due on March 20, request the viewing by early February. That leaves you time for a second inspection with a technician and for the bank's appraisal, if you are buying with a mortgage. Booking a week before the deadline risks bidding blind.

The rules vary from court to court. An order of the Siena court lists them explicitly:

• The custodian identifies you before you enter and notes the details of your identity document.
• Only people who made the request on the PVP may enter, together with their household.
• Those who requested are called at different times, so they do not meet each other.
• During the viewing, you and the occupants are asked to keep quiet, to avoid arguments with those who live there.
• The custodian does not tell you whether there are other interested parties and does not give you personal data of the parties or occupants.
• If you ask, they explain how to take part in the sale.
• They tell you the occupancy status and the condominium fees that the future winning bidder could be jointly liable for with the debtor.

If you want to bring a surveyor, a contractor to give a quote, or the bank's appraiser, ask the custodian first, in writing. Under a rule like Siena's, anyone who did not make the request stays out.

When the debtor lives in the property, the viewing still takes place: the law requires them to allow it in agreement with the custodian (art. 560 c.p.c.). If they obstruct the right to view, the judge, after hearing the parties and the custodian, orders the property vacated.

Bring the appraisal report, with the floor plan printed out, and a checklist. Half an hour goes quickly, especially in an occupied home.

Ask the custodian for the name of the condominium administrator. You will need it to find out about the arrears for the current year and the previous one, for which you could be jointly liable (art. 63 disp. att. c.c.; see condominium fees on an auction property). Before taking photos, ask permission: inside there are people and personal belongings.

Outside the property, look at the neighborhood at different times from the viewing and compare the price with local prices. The auction statistics and the city page, for example judicial auctions in Milan, help you understand how much properties sell for and at what price.

It can happen that a request goes unanswered. What to do, in order:

1. Check on the PVP that the request was sent and that the email and phone number are correct.
2. Write to the custodian by email or certified email (PEC), with the procedure number, the lot and the date of your request on the portal.
3. If you receive no reply, contact the sale delegate named in the notice, who is the other point of contact for the procedure. In procedures subject to the former art. 560, remind them of the fifteen-day deadline.
4. If the deadline is approaching, consider whether to bid anyway. An order like Siena's requires the bidder to declare that they have read the appraisal report: a property you have not seen remains a risk for you.

This guide concerns property enforcement proceedings. In judicial liquidation (formerly bankruptcy), there is no custodian appointed by the enforcement judge: the viewing is requested from the trustee or from the party named in the notice, and the sale rules are set by the liquidation program (art. 216 CCII).

In public asset sales by INPS (the national social security institute), INAIL (the national workers' compensation institute) and other bodies, viewings follow a calendar with dates and times published together with the call for bids. The terms of sale (disciplinare) place on the bidder the duty to see the property before bidding. The differences are explained in notarial auctions and public asset sales.