# Legal matters



## gjhowlett (Aug 5, 2011)

Hello, 

Can someone please help?
My Wife and I bought a hotel business last year, to make things run a bit smoother we said that we would use the old owners commercialista to help sort the licences and do our books.
Due to his inefficiency we told him we did not want his services anymore and to send us a bill of what we owe (1 year later).
We received his bill in July for 1800 euros, in the breakdown of the bill was charges for him coming to sign the papers over with a notaio (which we paid for seperatley) and to do an inventory on the hotel. 
We sent an email back saying we are not paying these parts of the invoice due to the fact that he was working for the old owners at the time and not us?
We have now received a letter from his Solicitor asking us to pay the bill in full aswell as his cost of 100 euros or face going to court.
What do we do as we never signed a contract and he never told us how much he would charge when we asked.
Please help if you can???
Regards

Graeme


----------



## rpizzica (Aug 10, 2011)

Obviously and unfortunately you are going to depend on someone to help you or if you speak enough Italian just go to the Comune of your town, and get some answers and help. Some Italian can be very miserable regarding money, but if you find the right person in the Comune you will be able to resolve this situation much better.
In bocca al lupo.
Roberto


----------



## bunty16 (Sep 26, 2009)

gjhowlett said:


> Hello,
> 
> Can someone please help?
> My Wife and I bought a hotel business last year, to make things run a bit smoother we said that we would use the old owners commercialista to help sort the licences and do our books.
> ...


Get a solicitor, and anyway if you think this person is not being honest threaten with finance police, don't let this person bully you. As long as you can demonstate paying what you have, if you do not speak italian fluently, make sure your solicitor can speak both languages. If finances are tight, find someone who is fluent and try to scare him off that way, but sometimes a solicitors letter will scare them off. Good luck.


----------



## Bartolus (Sep 14, 2011)

gjhowlett said:


> Hello,
> 
> Can someone please help?
> My Wife and I bought a hotel business last year, to make things run a bit smoother we said that we would use the old owners commercialista to help sort the licences and do our books.
> ...



Hi Graeme.

Your options are either to reach an agreement with him and settle, or seek recourse through the courts. It would be wise to seek legal advice beforehand and you need to do this without delay. 

Please be very careful. There is a special process in Italy where summary judgements are used to collect outstanding debts. The process is normally very fast and a creditor can obtain a court decree without the debtor having to be present at the hearing (inaudita altera parte). All a creditor needs is written proof of his or her right to payment, and usually this written proof comes in the form of an invoice. 

The mechanism used by the courts is called the decreto ingiuntivo. Simply put, this is the means by which the Judge orders a debtor to pay his or debt within a given timescale (normally 40 days). The decreto ingiuntivo becomes effective after the 40days. If the debtor fails to pay, enforcement proceedings begin to seize his or her personal assets. If the defendant disputes the debt, he or she must apply to set aside the judgement within the 40 days.

Be warned! Judges are not concerned about the quality or quantity of work that has been carried out, they decide on the basis of the debt that is owed. In nine times out of ten, this means that the defendant must pay first and then let the lawyers decide who is right or wrong. 

Considering that the length of civil proceedings in Italy is, in most cases, excessive, where it is not uncommon for cases to last anything up to ten years, you have to ask yourself whether it is better to just settle, cut your losses and put it down to experience.

If you have any problems let me know.


----------



## joco69 (Dec 27, 2007)

I would pay up it will be cheaper than paying additional legal fees and the aggravations you will avoid. Forget it friend 1800 Euros is not worthwhile to complicate your life and possibly your health.


----------



## Bartolus (Sep 14, 2011)

joco69 said:


> I would pay up it will be cheaper than paying additional legal fees and the aggravations you will avoid. Forget it friend 1800 Euros is not worthwhile to complicate your life and possibly your health.


Agreed, but Graeme needs to get legal advice and act quickly because if the commercialista decides to apply for a decreto ingiuntivo, then the situation will become intolerable.


----------

