Sale of a Family House

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Rossonero3
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Sale of a Family House

Post by Rossonero3 »

Ciao a Tutti,

I recently received this document from a stranger in Italy whose grandfather (or GGF) purchased the home of my Great Grandfather and his brother in our ancestral village, the frazione of Tuorocasale in the comune of Marzano Appio, Caserta. In this document, the buyer is Vincenzo Pisano and the sellers are my GGF Luigi Sarcione (b. 1884) and his brother Carmine (b. 1890). Luigi emigrated in 1898 and Carmine in 1902.
I have a few questions...

- For one, I can read or understand most of it but not all, however it would be great if someone could rewrite it in Italian so can translate it better.
- There is no date of this transaction and I'm trying to figure that out. The gentleman who gave this to me thought it might have been the time when my GGF emigrated to the US. That would have been 1898 and he was only 14 years old. By that time his father was out of the picture, possibly deceased because I know that his mother was remarried when they emigrated. I've never been able to track down a death certificate for my 2xGGF because records in this area are only available up until 1865.
- The gentleman referred to his "nonno" being the one who purchased our family home, but I would guess that he might have been referring to a 'great' grandfather since they don't always use the term bisnonno? I say this because of time frame.
- I know that my GGF Luigi traveled back to Italy in 1949 for several months, but I would think this document predates that, and that if it were from 1949 then it would be more formal and typed or partially typed not hand written.
- I'm also curious about the 'Sig. Vincenzo Zinno' and what his exact role was but also who he was because ironically my GGF Luigi married (in the US) a Palmarosa Zinno from the same comune of Marzano Appio but I have no "Vincenzo" Zinno's in my tree.
- Lastly, any idea how much 500,000 Italian Lira is/was worth? I'm old enough to remember the lira in Italy and knowing it was not worth very much compared to the USD. I'm curious what it might of been at the time of this document and what it might be in today's dollar amount. Any ideas?

As always, thanks for any help in advance.
SALE of House in Tuorocasale copy.jpg
Researching areas - Marzano Appio, Caserta and Carinola, Caserta
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PippoM
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Re: Sale of a Family House

Post by PippoM »

Hi,
Vincenzo Zinno was the "procuratore". That means that he had a proxy from your GGF and his brother to sell their properties in Italy, so, they were not present when the document was signed.
So many years have gone, so all that was done can't be changed, but that sheet of paper would have no legal value.
I say that it would have no legal value because the document doesn't mention what was being sold. It just says that Zinno sells "all the properties in Marzano Appio, in the hamlet of Tuorocasale", but doesn't say what such properties are!
Also, the lack of date would cancel the contract.
But that was another age, all this doesn't mean there was a trick (though emigrants were often scammed by their delegates).
However, this documents actually is just a preliminary, that had to be finalised in front of a notary. Maybe they never did it, to save on taxes and notary fees.
As to the date, the value of the properties makes me think it can be dated to the years just after WW2. Surely, not to the time of emigration, as it would be an enormous amount of money. As it was managed by people with not much education, they probably had it handwritten by someone with some more schooling.
Giuseppe "Pippo" Moccaldi

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mmogno
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Re: Sale of a Family House

Post by mmogno »

The 100 L ‘stamp paper’ (Carta da bollo) was used in the years around 1955.
https://www.picclickimg.com/images/g/6m ... -l1600.jpg
https://www.picclickimg.com/images/g/VF ... -l1600.jpg
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PippoM
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Re: Sale of a Family House

Post by PippoM »

Con il presente foglio di carta bollata da valere per tutti gli effetti di legge, si stabilisce quanto segue
Il signor Zinno Vincenzo fu Paolo quale procuratore generale delle proprietà di Luigi e Carmine Sarcione.
Lo Zinno vende liberamente al signor Pisano Vincenzo tutta la proprietà esistente in Marzano Appio nella fraz(z)ione di Tuorocasale, per il pezzo convenuto di lire 500.000 dico cinquecentomila lire italiane.
A chiunque delle due parti dovesse venir meno dovrà paga(re) lire duecentomila di penale.
Come anticipo il sig. Pisano Vincenzo versa la somma di lire 50.000 al signor Zinno Vincenzo che saranno scontate all'atto dell'istrumento. Letto e confermato si accetta quanto scritto.
Segno di croce di Pisano
Teste Russo Pietro
Teste Nicolò Ernesto
Zinno Vincenzo fu Paolo
Giuseppe "Pippo" Moccaldi

Certificate requests and genealogical researches in Italy.
Translation of your (old) documents and letters.
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Rossonero3
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Re: Sale of a Family House

Post by Rossonero3 »

mmogno wrote: 11 Jan 2025, 22:28 The 100 L ‘stamp paper’ (Carta da bollo) was used in the years around 1955.
https://www.picclickimg.com/images/g/6m ... -l1600.jpg
https://www.picclickimg.com/images/g/VF ... -l1600.jpg
I wonder if it could have been around 1949, I have departure manifest showing my GGF was going to back to Italy in 1949 for 4 months.
Researching areas - Marzano Appio, Caserta and Carinola, Caserta
Rossonero3
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Re: Sale of a Family House

Post by Rossonero3 »

PippoM wrote: 11 Jan 2025, 22:24 Hi,
Vincenzo Zinno was the "procuratore". That means that he had a proxy from your GGF and his brother to sell their properties in Italy, so, they were not present when the document was signed.
So many years have gone, so all that was done can't be changed, but that sheet of paper would have no legal value.
I say that it would have no legal value because the document doesn't mention what was being sold. It just says that Zinno sells "all the properties in Marzano Appio, in the hamlet of Tuorocasale", but doesn't say what such properties are!
Also, the lack of date would cancel the contract.
But that was another age, all this doesn't mean there was a trick (though emigrants were often scammed by their delegates).
However, this documents actually is just a preliminary, that had to be finalised in front of a notary. Maybe they never did it, to save on taxes and notary fees.
As to the date, the value of the properties makes me think it can be dated to the years just after WW2. Surely, not to the time of emigration, as it would be an enormous amount of money. As it was managed by people with not much education, they probably had it handwritten by someone with some more schooling.
This is amazing, thank you so much Super Pippo! Interesting to think this might not be valid, at this point I don't think I would try and contest anything unless the property was really valuable to me. Sentimentally sure, but I would never want to live in that frazione or comune to be honest.
Interesting that you might think it was the years after WW2 because recently I was looking at my GGF Luigi's profile on my Ancestry account and found that I had a departure manifest from 1949 showing he was going back for 4 months, so I wonder if he went back before or after the sale happened? I also noticed that he nor his brother had not signed the document so obviously they were not present, but the timing of the trip has me wondering. I also wonder if the Anagrafe would have any info on the property.
Also, thank you so much for rewriting the letter in Italian for me. I appreciate it.
Researching areas - Marzano Appio, Caserta and Carinola, Caserta
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PippoM
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Re: Sale of a Family House

Post by PippoM »

You're welcome, Rossonero!
I just want to point out that you can't contest anything, even if you wanted, because Italian law provides for what is called "usucapione": if you possess a real estate for more than 20 years with no contract and no request of payment by the owner, it becomes yours.
Giuseppe "Pippo" Moccaldi

Certificate requests and genealogical researches in Italy.
Translation of your (old) documents and letters.
Legal assistance in Italy for your Italian citizenship.
Rossonero3
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Re: Sale of a Family House

Post by Rossonero3 »

PippoM wrote: 14 Jan 2025, 09:56 You're welcome, Rossonero!
I just want to point out that you can't contest anything, even if you wanted, because Italian law provides for what is called "usucapione": if you possess a real estate for more than 20 years with no contract and no request of payment by the owner, it becomes yours.
Ah ok. I would never contest anyways and create problems for those who are there now, it was a mere thought of owning a piece of family history. Maybe now since I know who the current owners are, if they are still the owners, I can travel back and possibly view the property someday.
Researching areas - Marzano Appio, Caserta and Carinola, Caserta
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