Those who manage a condominium are often forced to advance amounts out of their own pockets to cover urgent expenses: repairing a sudden breakdown, paying an overdue bill, paying for an emergency technician.
It’s a common practice, but it hides a risk that many managers underestimate. The right to return these advances, in fact, is not at all automatic and does not depend only on having the receipts in your pocket.
The CoE, with the no. 4904/2026, made it abundantly clear that without transparent accounting, an up-to-date register and a dedicated current account, director credit simply does not exist in the eyes of the law.
Without clear accounting the credit is not considered proven
The principle established by the Court of Cassation is as simple as it is strict in its practical application: it is not enough to prove that you have paid an invoice to be entitled to a refund. The entire financial management of the condominium must be reconstructed in a transparent way through the tools provided by law, first of all the accounting register, updated in chronological order and accessible to all condominium owners.
This register is not a simple bureaucratic document, but the tool through which each owner can at any time verify the correctness of the actions of his manager, check every entry and exit and compare the entries with the decisions of the assembly. If a director claims to have paid, for example, for the maintenance of the elevator or the cleaning of the stairs, but this expense is not recorded in a clear and verifiable statement, the judge cannot recognize it as a specific credit.
Therefore, accounting clarity is not an incidental wording, but the very legal basis from which the right to repayment of advances arises. Anyone who doesn’t keep their accounts in order essentially gives up any financial protection against the condominium structure.
Dedicated checking account and shareholder approval: the two pillars of statutory compensation
A second element that the judges evaluate with particular rigor is the presence of the current account in the name of the condominium, clearly distinguishable from the personal assets of the manager. When a professional pays condominium debts from his personal account, he commits a serious irregularity called financial confusion, which irreparably jeopardizes his ability to receive compensation.
The law is precise on this point: any amount connected to condominium management must go exclusively through the current account dedicated to the building. If a manager pays the gas bill or the building’s insurance by mixing his own money with that of the condominium owners, he will not be able to prove unequivocally afterward that the expense was actually attributable to the condominium and not to him.
But that’s not all: even when the accounting is in order and the current account exists, the right to compensation remains subject to the approval of the statement by the assembly. Condominium owners must have seen, discussed and voted favorably on the final budget that includes these advances.
