Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Israel

My father bought a condominium in 1988, the condominium had a clinic in the ground level of the building which belonged to the condominium owner. My father passed in 2001. The seller on the condo minium is a dentist , he continues to run the clinic to date. It appears that the clinic is listed with the condominium in the deed my parents hold. we were contacted by the dentist counsel to come in and sign the clinic back to him as it was a mistake. We found out that the condo and the clinic shares the same water and electric meter and my parents have been paying the bills in the past 22 years not being aware of it. We also suspect taht the real estate taxes to the municipalities have been paid by my partners. Please advise how to go about resolving this issue. Do we have any rights over this property aside of the fact that it is listed in the deed?

Asked on 11/09/10, 6:58 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Simon Seitz Simon Seitz Law and Mediation Offices

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Hi,

If the title is registered in the land registry - this is proof of ownership. In addition you are a bona fide purchaser, this is also an element which gives you a strong counter claim. If the title is not in the land registry then it may get a little bit more complicated. You may scan in the title and email it to [email protected] I can then confirm the above.

Regarding the payment of bills- you should certainly demand to be repaid.

Out of interest how did the dentist enter the property? Did he sign a lease agreement? Did he pay rent?

Yours Sincerely,

Simon Seitz, Adv.

Answered on 11/09/10, 10:49 pm

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Ayal Weil A.Weil - Law Office

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Usually there are no "mistakes" in the process of registration of a property.

If the dentist argue to be the owner of the clinic he has to be able to prove such mistake by showing his purchase contract for the clinic + transfer of purchase funds to the seller.

If the dentist can not show those documents and the clinic is registered under the name of your late father then - it belongs to you and the dentist owe you rent + electricity bills + water bills for all the time (22 years) that he used the clinic for free.

A.S Weil, Adv.

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Answered on 11/09/10, 11:13 pm

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