A True Story…
Mr. Bin has been in Israel as a citizen for the last seven years and he doesn’t consider himself a “new immigrant”, but rather an Israeli (as is the desire of many olim).
Mr. Bin approached me with the following question, a request for legal assistance:
“The person who organizes the Va’ad Bayit at the TA apartment complex where I live, has been demanding that I pay him xxxx NIS for a repair to the roof of the building. Supposedly, the other 19 apartment owners in the building are also to each pay xxxx NIS towards the total cost.
I told this person that I will need to see the Cost of Works / Survey from the builder or contractor who is supposed to carry out the work BEFORE I pay so that it can be independently verified and checked as being authentic. He has refused and ignored my request on two occasions to the present date.
…I do not intend to make a similar mistake and pay xxxx NIS for non-existent work – based on his refusal to supply any evidence to the contrary – and therefore, I would be interested in any comments that you may have pertaining to this dispute.”
Mr. Bin sounded very upset, but that doesn’t make him right by any means. Mr. Bin’s comments indicate that he is actually totally unaware of the legal system in Israel.
My advice was to approach the other 19 neighbors, or at least some of them, because it would be impossible that all 19 would pay the fees if they had any doubt of the integrity of the person managing the building. Not only that, but let’s consider that this person was elected to be Council of the building landlords (in Hebrew “Vaad Bayit”) at some point, even if Mr. Bin is not aware of that.
Trying to explain to him how the council is elected proved to be another waste of our time and in a future article I will try to explain step-by-step how a council is elected by Israeli law.
I suggested to Mr. Bin that he pay the amount that was requested of each apartment owner for the repairs, and if he feels that something unethical is going on then he can request a special meeting of the council to discuss the issue. Of course if he finds any wrong-doing he can always sue the person in charge of the council or complain to the police, in the case of embezzlement.
Mr. Bin didn’t like my answer at all, and in quick time I received his response as follows:
“Your stock answer(s) suggests that you have not properly understood what I have written and / or you are now totally out of touch with the reality of life here. Now …. xxxx NIS is probably just loose change to you, right? ….. but for me and the other 95% of the population living in this country, it represents a significant amount.
Why do I think he is lying to me? – Purely based on my many years’ experience as a Fraud Investigator in Corporate and Government Affairs for which I’ve probably worked on more case-files than you have had hot dinners in your entire lifetime! Plus, my near 7 years’ experience in actually dealing with this particular person, here!
You ask about the other tenants – No, they are not blind, but to all intents and purposes they are DEAD. Nobody talks to each other and I have observed this bizarre situation for nearly 7 years – the only difference being that corpses don’t slam their front doors, as hard as possible, on a daily basis …
You had the opportunity to be elected a VAAD BAIT. He was elected, right?
Errrr …… No!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to report to you that, errr …. real life here is not actually what you seem to blindly assume. FYI, the whole process (in early 2007) was actually done without any consultation with me or anybody else whatsoever!! (from my own observations)
BTW, trying to obtain money using false pretenses and/or deception is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE – and I have previous vast experience in combatting this pervasive issue.
To summarise – someone demands xxxx NIS from you and you will not receive any service for it … but amazingly, you would have no hesitation in paying it, right???
Sometimes it is difficult to understand why an adult behaves like Mr. Bin and why so many new immigrants are somehow paranoid, thinking that everyone is trying to rip them off.
My advice:
If you are seeking good, free advice and a fast solution to your problem you are welcome to contact us with the details of your case. We will be more than happy to assist you. But if you have the type of personality that causes you to bash or attempt to “educate” others when they don’t agree with you – if your position is “your way or no way” – then please be kind to others and refrain from contacting us so that we can focus our time, energy and expertise on those who are in need of real help and willing to accept our knowledgeable advice.
