Property Owner Terms
Terms and conditions for property owners and partners · Last updated 15 January 2026
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1Platform & Services
Sassi Villas provides a property management and marketing platform for owners of luxury properties in the Puglia region of Italy. By listing a property on our Platform, owners enter into a management agreement with Sassi Villas S.r.l. that governs the marketing, booking, and operational management of their property. The services available vary by plan and are set out in the individual management agreement. Depending on the plan selected, these may include platform listing, GEO and SEO optimisation, guest screening and property inspection, channel distribution, dynamic pricing, guest communication and reporting, cleaning and maintenance coordination, property protection monitoring, professional photography, and the Collection Standard. These terms provide a summary of the key obligations and rights of property owners. The full management agreement, which contains additional detail and property-specific provisions, is provided to each owner upon onboarding and constitutes the binding legal document.
2Listing Requirements
All properties must meet Sassi Villas's quality standards before being listed on the Platform. The onboarding process includes a professional on-site inspection by our property team, assessment of furnishing quality, cleanliness, and overall guest readiness, verification of compliance with all applicable Italian regulations for short-term tourist rentals, confirmation of a valid CIN (Codice Identificativo Nazionale) code as required by Italian law since January 2025, review of safety equipment including smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors, and first aid kits, and verification of adequate insurance coverage. Owners must provide accurate and complete information about their property, including amenities, accessibility features, maximum occupancy, and any restrictions or limitations. All photographs must accurately represent the current state of the property. Sassi Villas reserves the right to decline or delist properties that do not meet our standards or that receive consistently poor guest feedback.
3Commission & Payments
Sassi Villas charges a commission on each completed booking, the rate of which is specified in the individual management agreement and varies based on the level of services selected. Guest payments are collected by Sassi Villas and held in a dedicated client account in accordance with Italian payment services regulations. Owner payouts are processed within 7 business days following the guest's check-in date, net of the agreed commission and any applicable deductions for services rendered. Detailed booking and earnings reports are available in real time through the owner dashboard, including breakdowns of gross revenue, commission, additional service charges, and net payout. All amounts are subject to applicable Italian VAT, and Sassi Villas issues invoices for its commission in accordance with Italian tax law. Owners are responsible for their own tax obligations, including income tax reporting on rental revenue.
4Calendar & Availability Management
Owners must maintain an accurate and up-to-date availability calendar through the owner dashboard. Blocked dates for personal use or maintenance must be entered at least 30 days in advance where possible. If a property is also listed on other platforms (subject to exclusivity terms in the management agreement), the owner is responsible for preventing double bookings; Sassi Villas offers calendar synchronisation tools to assist with this but cannot guarantee prevention of conflicts arising from external platforms. Cancellation of a confirmed booking by the owner due to a calendar error or personal scheduling conflict may result in a penalty fee to cover guest relocation costs and reputational damage, as specified in the management agreement. Sassi Villas will make reasonable efforts to contact owners before confirming bookings during periods of recent calendar changes.
5Property Standards & Compliance
Owners are responsible for maintaining their property to the standard agreed upon at onboarding, including all furnishings, appliances, fixtures, and outdoor areas such as pools, gardens, and terraces. Properties must comply with all applicable Italian laws at all times, including fire safety regulations (DM 9 April 1994 and subsequent amendments), electrical certification (Dichiarazione di Conformità), swimming pool safety requirements including fencing where required by local ordinance, gas safety certification for all gas appliances, local tourist tax obligations, and building and planning compliance. Sassi Villas conducts periodic quality inspections, at minimum annually and additionally following any guest complaint, and may request remedial action with a specified deadline if standards are not maintained. Persistent failure to maintain agreed standards may result in temporary delisting or termination of the management agreement. Guest registration with the Questura and tourist tax collection and reporting are managed by Sassi Villas on the owner's behalf where this is agreed in the management agreement.
6Photography & Marketing Rights
Upon signing the management agreement, owners grant Sassi Villas a non-exclusive licence to photograph the property and use those photographs, along with property descriptions, virtual tours, and video content, for marketing purposes on the Platform, social media channels, email campaigns, and third-party advertising. All photography is conducted by Sassi Villas's approved photographers and remains the intellectual property of Sassi Villas S.r.l. Owners may use the same photographs for personal purposes with written permission but may not provide them to competing platforms without consent. Properties may also be featured in editorial content, press features, and promotional partnerships. Owners will be notified before any major campaign featuring their property and may request removal of specific images if the property has materially changed since the photographs were taken.
7Guest Reviews & Ratings
Guests are invited to leave reviews following their stay, and these reviews are published on the property's listing page. Sassi Villas does not edit, filter, or suppress reviews based on sentiment; all genuine reviews, whether positive or negative, are published. Owners may respond to reviews through their dashboard, and we encourage professional, courteous responses that address any concerns raised. Reviews that are defamatory, contain personal information, or are determined to be fraudulent will be removed upon investigation. A property's average rating is displayed publicly and may affect its visibility in search results and featured listings. Properties that consistently receive ratings below our minimum threshold will be subject to a quality review and may be temporarily delisted for improvement.
8Maintenance & Emergency Repairs
Routine maintenance (such as pool servicing, garden care, and appliance servicing) is the owner's responsibility and should be scheduled so as not to disrupt confirmed guest stays. Sassi Villas can coordinate routine maintenance through our network of approved local contractors at the owner's expense if this is included in the management agreement. In the event of an emergency affecting guest safety or habitability, such as a burst pipe, electrical failure, gas leak, or security breach, Sassi Villas is authorised to engage contractors and authorise repairs up to a value specified in the management agreement (typically EUR 500) without prior owner approval to ensure guest safety and continuity of the stay. The owner will be notified as soon as practicable and will receive full documentation of any emergency expenditure. Costs exceeding the pre-authorised limit require owner approval before work proceeds, unless guest safety is at immediate risk.
9Insurance & Liability
Owners must maintain comprehensive property insurance that covers third-party liability with a minimum cover of EUR 1,000,000, damage to the property and its contents (buildings and contents insurance), public liability for guest injuries occurring on the property, loss of rental income due to insured events, and employer's liability if the owner engages any staff directly. The policy must explicitly cover short-term holiday rental use. Sassi Villas carries its own professional indemnity insurance covering its management activities, including errors and omissions in the booking process and actions of its employees and contractors. However, Sassi Villas is not liable for damage to the property or injury to guests arising from property defects, deferred maintenance, non-compliance with safety regulations, or any condition of the property that is the owner's responsibility. Proof of valid insurance must be provided annually by the policy renewal date and updated promptly in the event of any policy changes, cancellations, or claims that may affect coverage.
10Owner Use of Property
Owners may reserve dates for personal use of their property, subject to the availability management requirements described above. Personal use dates should be blocked in the calendar at least 30 days in advance where possible and are not subject to commission. However, excessive blocking of dates during peak season may affect the property's booking performance and visibility on the Platform. The management agreement may specify a minimum number of available booking nights per year to ensure the listing remains active and competitive. If the owner occupies the property immediately before a guest arrival, the property must be returned to guest-ready condition in accordance with Sassi Villas's standards, and the owner must vacate by 10:00 on the day before the guest's check-in date to allow for professional cleaning and inspection.
11Confidentiality
Both parties agree to maintain the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information exchanged during the course of the management relationship. This includes commission rates and fee structures, guest personal data and booking details, revenue figures and financial performance, proprietary pricing algorithms and marketing strategies, and the terms of the individual management agreement. Confidential information may not be disclosed to third parties without the prior written consent of the disclosing party, except where required by law, regulation, or court order, or where disclosure is necessary to professional advisers bound by their own confidentiality obligations. This confidentiality obligation survives termination of the management agreement for a period of two years.
12Termination
Either party may terminate the management agreement by providing 90 days' written notice. Upon termination, all existing confirmed bookings will be honoured, and the owner will receive payouts for these bookings according to the standard payment schedule. Sassi Villas will remove the property listing within 7 days of the final guest departure and will transfer all guest communication records relevant to upcoming stays. Early termination by the owner without due notice may incur a fee equivalent to the average commission of the preceding three months, to compensate for marketing expenditure and pipeline disruption. Sassi Villas may terminate immediately in cases of material breach, including safety violations, regulatory non-compliance, repeated failure to maintain property standards, or conduct that damages the Sassi Villas brand. In all cases, the owner retains ownership of their property data and may request an export of all booking records and financial reports within 30 days of termination.
13Dispute Resolution & Governing Law
Any dispute arising out of or in connection with the management agreement shall first be addressed through direct negotiation between the parties in good faith. If the dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation within 30 days, it shall be submitted to mediation administered by the Camera di Commercio di Bari. If mediation does not result in a resolution within 60 days of the initial request, either party may refer the dispute to the courts of Bari, Italy, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction. The management agreement and these terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Italy. Nothing in these terms prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive or interim relief from any court of competent jurisdiction where necessary to prevent irreparable harm.
If you have questions about this document, please contact our team at support@sassivillas.com. This document is provided in English for convenience. In the event of a conflict between the English and Italian versions, the Italian version shall prevail.