Notarial auctions and public asset sales: INPS, INAIL and the Rete Aste Notarili

The term "notarial auction" covers three different procedures.

1. Judicial sale delegated to a notary. In property enforcement proceedings, the judge delegates the sale to a notary, a lawyer or an accountant (art. 591-bis c.p.c.). Here the notary is the sale delegate: the auction remains a judicial one, is published on the Public Sales Portal and follows the rules of judicial auctions.
2. Public asset sale (dismissione) by a body. A public or social security body sells its property under a call for bids, and a notary runs the auction on the RAN. This is the subject of this guide.
3. Direct sale (vendita diretta). A company or a private individual lists a property for sale on the Notarial Notices Portal (Portale Avvisi Notarili), with or without an auction, and relies on a notary for the procedure. These are less common, and each has its own rules.

On ImmobilScan, the last two appear in the search alongside PVP auctions, with a label that distinguishes "Public asset sale" from "Direct sale", the body and the call for bids number. Notarial notices are updated once a day.

The Notarial Notices Portal lists mainly INPS, INAIL, ATER, ANBSC and the State Property Agency, but also the Ministry of Defense, Invimit, Enasarco, municipalities and universities. ANBSC is the National Agency for Assets Seized and Confiscated from Organized Crime (Agenzia nazionale per i beni sequestrati e confiscati alla criminalità organizzata).

According to the Notariato, a total of 733 calls for bids for public asset sales by partner bodies (enti convenzionati) had been published up to June 2026, with 3,025 lots awarded out of 6,712: 45%.

For INPS, the basis is a specific law. Art. 8, para. 2, letter c), of Decree-Law (D.L.) 95/2012, as replaced by art. 38, para. 2, of D.L. 50/2017, requires the Institute to fully dispose of its income-producing real estate. The Institute sells through public auctions under its own regulation and an agreement with the National Council of Notaries, renewed on September 27, 2025.

We use the bidding terms of INPS call for bids 26012 in Rome, with auctions on September 10, 2026, as an example. Other bodies change amounts and deadlines, but not the overall structure.

The bid

You submit the bid by appointment with the auctioneer notary (notaio banditore), the notary who runs the auction, or with a branch notary (notaio periferico). A branch notary is any notary who is part of the RAN, chosen by you from the list published on the Notariato website. This means you can bid for an apartment in Rome from an office in Turin.

The bid can be on paper, hand-signed, with a €16 stamp and placed in a sealed envelope, or as a digitally signed PDF. For INPS it must be at least equal to the starting price. The rule for judicial enforcement auctions, which allows bids up to one quarter below the starting price (art. 571 c.p.c.), does not apply.

The deposit

At least 10% of the starting price, by non-transferable cashier's check (assegno circolare non trasferibile) or postal money order (vaglia postale) made out to the body. The check goes in the envelope or is handed to the notary. For an apartment with a starting price of €461,000, the check must be for €46,100.

Irrevocability

The bid remains binding for at least 15 days after the deadline for submission. If you win, it remains binding for up to 150 days from the award.

The bidding round

If there are several bids, on the day of the auction you go in person to the notary with whom you bid, who enters your raises on the RAN platform. Bidding proceeds in three-minute sessions. The minimum raise is €1,000 for properties under €400,000 and €5,000 above that. Without raises, the highest bid wins; if bids are equal, the one submitted first prevails.

After the auction

The award is provisional for 60 days, and the body may revoke it within 30 days. Within 15 days you must pay a further deposit of at least 10% of the award price, again by cashier's check, or you forfeit the award and lose the first deposit. Within 3 days of the auction record (verbale d'asta), you must pay the auctioneer notary's fee.

One clause weighs more than the others. Until the deed is signed, the Institute may suspend the procedure or not proceed with it, and neither bidders nor the winning bidder can claim anything. If this happens for reasons outside your control, you get back the deposit and the fees paid to notaries, but not the costs for surveyors, banks or moving. Meanwhile, your bid binds you for 150 days.

The deed

The sale contract is signed within 150 days of notice of the final award. The notary is either the one with whom you bid or another notary in the same region chosen by you. The balance is paid in a single instant bank transfer, already credited to the body's account at signing. If the deed does not go through because of you, the body keeps the deposit and may award the property to the runner-up.

Other calls for bids follow different timelines. In a 2026 ANBSC call, for example, the bidding is open (offerte palesi) with minimum raises of 1% of the starting price. The winner tops up the deposit within seven days, and the deed must be signed within 60 days. Always read the bidding terms of the call for bids that interests you.

On taxes, the INPS terms refer to Ministerial Resolution no. 67 of 2000: sales of social security bodies' properties are subject to registration tax, and the Institute does not opt for VAT. If you qualify for the primary residence tax relief (agevolazioni prima casa), tell the notary in good time; the Notariato's FAQs recommend doing so already at the auction. To compare these costs with those of a judicial auction, see the cost of bidding at an auction.

The row that weighs most is the one on warranties. The INPS terms state that by bidding you accept the property's building and planning situation, and you take on the burdens, risks and costs of any unlawful building work and amnesties, including those that cannot be regularized. Under the "Sblocca Italia" decree, the body is exempt from providing documents on ownership and planning compliance, from attaching the energy performance certificate (APE) and from declaring cadastral compliance. If there is an unlawful work that can be regularized, you can apply for a building permit regularization (sanatoria) within 120 days of the deed, under art. 40 of Law 47/1985.

You also waive the warranty against defects of the property. The only exception is for defects the seller concealed in bad faith (art. 1490, para. 2, c.c.). For this reason, the inspection with your own technician must take place before bidding: after the deed, there is no one to hold accountable.

Judicial sales also give no warranty against defects. However, the appraisal report (perizia) by the appraiser appointed by the judge must by law describe planning compliance, the possibility of a building permit regularization and the costs. In public asset sales by bodies, you find the list of lots and the lot sheet, which are shorter. A notarial report on the property's history and encumbrances may be missing: the notary signing the deed carries out the mortgage searches, and you should ask for them before bidding, not after.

The lot list shows each property as either "vacant" (libero) or "occupied" (occupato). In public asset sales, there is no custodian and no judge's vacating order. You buy the property in its current physical and legal state, with the rents and contracts in place.

If there is a tenant with an enforceable lease, you take over as landlord until it expires. If the occupant has no title, you bring the eviction case yourself, in court, on your own timetable and at your own expense. Under the INPS terms, clearing furniture and personal effects left in the property is in any case the buyer's responsibility. For the rules of judicial auctions, see occupied auction property and vacating.

• Download from the Notariato website the bidding terms, the lot list, the lot sheet and the contract template. Read the contract template: it is the one you will sign.
• Check the occupancy status and the right on sale (full ownership, bare ownership, share) in the lot list. If the lot is occupied, ask what contract is in place and how long it runs.
• Book the viewing on the set dates in the calendar: they are few and fixed.
• Have a technician check planning and cadastral compliance, since the body does not guarantee it.
• Ask the notary who will sign the deed for the property's mortgage searches, before bidding.
• Prepare two cashier's checks in good time: the deposit and, if you win, the second deposit within 15 days.
• If you need a mortgage, start the application right away. You have 150 days, more than the 120 days for judicial auctions, but the bank will carry out its own appraisal. Ask whether it lends on a property sold without an APE and without a cadastral compliance statement, or whether it requires the regularization first (see mortgages for buying a home at auction).
• Check for protected properties. INPS properties built more than 70 years ago may go to auction pending verification of cultural interest. If a protection order (vincolo) emerges after the award, you may withdraw or proceed, and the sale is subject to the State's pre-emption right (prelazione).
• Keep in mind the body's reservation: until the deed, the sale may not be completed even if you have won.