Israeli attorneys can you help?

amother

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 11:52 am

The people renting my apartment in Israel (my main source of income) woke up this morning to loud construction in the apartment upstairs. In addition to the noise,, the workers have leaned some sort of a ladder against my mirpeset so there is no longer any privacy there. The renters moved out and who can blame them.

I received no notice of the construction. The apartment was bought by new people and I received an email from the old owners yesterday that it was sold. I literally don't know who the new owners are.

My questions:

Am I entitled to compensation for the loss of income?

Are they required to have insurance to protect my apartment from damage?

Please PLEASE ONLY respond if you are an israeli lawyer or if you have direct experience (you yourself- not your neighbor's aunt). I am too stressed to read anything that isn't directly practical.

This is a fiasco for me as it is literally how DD and I live.

LovesHashem

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 12:14 pm

Hi. We've had two people do construction in the building over the past few months. I do know that for certain projects you must get permission from all the neighbors. In our case this was not neccesary as it was extensions that were included in the building plans.

Why is the ladder against your mirpeset? And why does that mean no privacy?

Do you have a contract with the renters? How are they allowed to move suddenly? It also sounds so weird to move overnight like that without trying to fix the issue.

amother

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 12:28 pm

I don't fault the renters. They rented a quiet apartment with a lovely mirpeset, this morning she got ready to take her coffee out there and found workers climbing up a ladder literally inches from her.

My concern is the two things I said -
1. Protection for my apartment and
2. Compensation for the fact that I can't rent it out while work is going on.

amother

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 12:46 pm

amother [ Jetblack ] wrote:

Do you have a legal contract/ lease with the renters?

I am so sorry. I must have been unclear because I am so upset. My concern is not with the renters. As I said, I understand why they can not stay in the apartment.

My concern is with the people upstairs who are doing major construction work.

LovesHashem

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 12:57 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Of course you can rent it out. People do construction all the time. I'm not sure if a ladder leaning against your mirpeset is allowed and you may be able to get that taken care of. You can try to call the city hotline and find out and if it's not allowed the city will fine them.

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 12:59 pm

Your tenants heard noise this morning and already moved out? Does not make sense. Maybe they were planing this before.
As for noise- that’s what happens when you live in an apartment building.
As for the ladder- have it moved.

amother

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:00 pm

LovesHashem wrote:

It is not impossible obviously,, but with major work going on it is noisy and dirty.

It is very hard to get renters these days even in an ideal situation.

I would very much prefer to concentrate in protecting my apartment.

LovesHashem

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:00 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I understand - but in Israel this is normal and you SHOULD be able to have renters there. There is no such thing as compensation for someone doing legal construction. The only thing you need to find out is if it is legal, they got permission, and make sure that they aren't breaking any laws like working too early, too late, leaving garbage or dangerous things around, and also possibly leaning a ladder against your mirpeset without permission.

On facebook there's an Ask a Lawyer Israel group. Feel free to ask there as well.

Do you have a contract? You should NOT allow your renter to move out and rather find out the laws and what's legal.

Construction is normal here - people DO NOT move out because of it. But if someone is looking for an apartment they obviously would prefer to rent one in a area with no ongoing construction so it will be hard to find new renters.

sub

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:02 pm

amother [ Seafoam ] wrote:

Bezh you will find another tenant.

amother

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:02 pm

LovesHashem wrote:

Thank you I will check out that Facebook group.

LovesHashem

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:04 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Noisy is a part of life. It just is. No one moves out - it costly to just pick up all your stuff and move and when you find a new apartment no one is promising someone in the NEW building won't do it as well. C'mon.

What's dirty? If they are tracking dirt into the building, or the front yard of shared spaced like a parking lot are dirty they legally need to clean up after themselves and you can call the city to come out and fine them. There should be no dirt. Noise is from I think 7.30AM-11pm. Anytime outside of those hours is illegal. I'm not sure about the exact morning time but the night is 11pm I'm sure of.

amother

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:15 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

My concern is the two things I said -
1. Protection for my apartment and
2. Compensation for the fact that I can't rent it out while work is going on.

I really appreciate everyone's concern re the renters but they are not really what I am worried about. I would not find the apartment liveable right now. I am not going to post pictures or details so you are just going to have to trust me on this and move on.

If anyone is a lawyer who has insight regarding the legal issues above please respond.

amother

Brunette

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:23 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

What you are worried about is your income, bottom line.

The lawyers job is to help you understand what you can do. The lawyer may say, for example, the that upstairs neighbor is not responsible to cover missing rent from tenants fleeing without notice.

amother

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:37 pm

amother [ Brunette ] wrote:

My major concern is to protect the apartment from being damaged. Apparently day 1, I already have a crack in my ceiling. The renters were due to leave in 2 months so the loss of losing them early is a miniscule fraction of the cost of having to do repairs.

DrMom

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:53 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I'm not a lawyer, so feel free to ignore:

1. If your renters have a contract with you, you should not lose those 2 months worth of rent (unless the contract specifies quiet).

2. Your apartment is being physically damaged? Why didn't you say so earlier?? Of course you are protected against your apt being damaged by the construction work. You should tell the owners of the apt upstairs that their shiputz is causing damage. Take pictures. If you don't know who the owners are, ask the vaad bayit, or ask the old owners for their contact info.

amother

Jetblack

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 1:57 pm

Op your contract IS your protection. That is your legal standing and way to protect yourself in situations like this. If you have one there are probably things that can be done so it will be helpful if you clarify if you have one or not?

Does your building have a vaad habayit?
Who is in charge?

I’m sorry for the stressful situation you dealing with it sounds awful.

essie14

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 2:34 pm

I am so sorry you are going through this.
I live in an area where there is TONS of construction and apartments are rented out.
The renters complain on the whatsapp group but that's life.

If your apartment is getting damaged from someone else's shiputzim, that's another story.
You must have proof and documentation and speak to a lawyer.
I also recommend getting in touch with the vaad bayit, maybe he/she can assist.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Dec 22 2020, 4:16 pm

OP, what does your contract say, with your renters, about leaving the apartment and not paying? I think thats also against the law.
Also, about noise and construction, thats just how life is, in an apartment and even in private homes. That is not a reason to vacate the apartment without paying. You are due your rent.
And I have never heard of construction company or landlords having to compensate someone because of the noise from their construction made renters leave. They are allowed to do construction. Thats also, just the way life goes.
Sorry for your monetary loss, but again, your renters really should be paying you, by law.