Eventually, most new immigrants will likely need to rent a house or an apartment in Israel. Many legislative bills regarding this matter have been drafted in parliament (the Knesset) to regulate this industry; but, as of today, nothing has been passed. So, renting a home often is one of the most problematic and chaotic issues facing new immigrants.
There is no easy path to put you on that can protect you from unscrupulous landlords. Yet, I can tell to you that it is better to be safe than sorry and at least knowing the laws and regulations will help you avoid problems and traps that could occur.
Unfortunately, landlord and tenant disputes are quite common in Israel. In my opinion, with a little preparation, most of these disputes can be settled outside of a courtroom.
The most acute problem when trying to help new immigrants is their claim or demand for their rights. I find it extremely challenging to explain the basic principles of our legal system in Israel in which your rights end where the other person’s rights begin. In order words, a person’s rights can only be enforced if in doing so it does not deprive another person of their lawful rights.
The Landlord:
Violations of the terms and conditions of the rental agreement by a tenant often happens especially with young new immigrants. As a result, landlords are not usually willing to be flexible when renting to new immigrants to overcome this problem.
The most common violations are: not paying rent or not paying rent on time, damages caused by tenants, refusing to leave the rented property voluntarily at the end of a lease or after a legal request.
In these circumstances, the landlord will usually look for a quick and affordable solution to evict the tenant. Thus, many times the landlord will act irrationally or out of anger. The landlord may try to force the tenant and his belongings out by using, what he thinks is “reasonable use of force”.
You may ask yourself if this act is legal. The short answer is no. But after you have left the dwelling nobody will force a landlord to allow you to move back in (there are rare exceptions and only ruled by a Judge not by the police).
In some very rare occurrences there may be an indictment against the landlord for his use of force, but this will not solve your immediate problem of course. On the other hand, if a tenant is not paying his/her rent or has caused serious damage to the premises, a Judge will have very little sympathy for the offender and usually side with the landlord.
A landlord is not seen by the courts any differently as a grocer or shop owner. As there would be no expectation that customers could come into a store and take whatever they wanted without paying, there is also no expectation that a landlord let someone live in his property without paying.
Ideally, it would be nice if all landlords would act in a legal manner when evicting a tenant. Although forcing a tenant out unlawfully by using shortcuts could cost the landlord dearly in the long run; in the real world, people react differently when under stress or when they feel that their rights are being violated.
In my next article, I will deal with tenants’ rights under the law, especially from a very practical point of view – what to do or not to do in a tenancy dispute.
