Looking for a lawyer to handle a key money transaction? You have come to the right place. Adv. Avital Horef is a qualified attorney with extensive experience in sales, rentals, and protected tenancy / key money transactions.
Looking for a key money lawyer? You have come to the right place.
Adv. Avital Horef is a key money attorney with extensive experience in sales, rentals, and protected tenancy / key money transactions. A leading key money attorney in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Adv. Horef invites you to a free consultation, 24/7.
Many people assume that real estate deals involving key money have vanished, but that is a misconception. Quite a few transactions involving the transfer of protected tenancy rights are carried out every year.
In Israel, where housing prices keep climbing, a key money transaction can be a good solution for both sides.
Buying a property under a key money arrangement is a real estate transaction that combines a purchase with a lease.
The Tenant Protection Law (hereinafter: “the Law”) grants a protected tenant an economic right in a property, a right that is not recorded in the land registry, and that protects the tenant from eviction from the property for the rest of their life (with exceptions). The rent the tenant pays is reduced.
As a rule, the tenant pays about half of the apartment’s value on moving in. From then on, for the whole period of the tenancy, the rent is extremely low, often no more than a few hundred shekels a month.
The Law sets out the duties and rights of landlords and tenants, and it applies to any tenant holding an apartment or business premises acquired for key money.
Under the Law, a protected tenant differs from an ordinary tenant: the protected tenant enjoys preferential rights and is shielded from eviction as long as the provisions of the Law and of the agreement are met.
On the duties side, the tenant must keep to the terms of the contract signed at the start of the tenancy, pay the agreed sum on time, and must not abandon the property, since abandonment puts the tenant’s rights at risk.
The tenant must also bear a share of the cost of repairs to the property, while the landlord must keep the property in proper condition.
Only the tenant and the tenant’s family may live in the apartment. They may not make changes to it, such as renovations that involve knocking down walls or closing off a balcony, without the property owner’s consent.
Changes such as painting, shutters and the like are permitted when they are carried out as part of renovation work on the entire building.
A protected tenant may be any of the following:
Under the Law, where a protected tenant wishes to sell their rights in the property, the owner of the apartment has the first option to acquire the protected tenancy right, ahead of anyone else.
Is there demand for such rights? There is. Some people, for example, want to live in an apartment in a central location in the city in return for key money, which costs far less than an apartment bought on the open market.
The right can also be sold to a family member who wishes to live in the property under protected tenancy terms.
The Tenant Protection Law sets out detailed provisions on the sale process. First, affidavits from the seller (the outgoing tenant) and the buyer (the incoming tenant) must be sent to the property owner. As noted, the owner has priority in acquiring the right; but if the owner has no interest in acquiring it and will not agree to the sale, it may be necessary to go to court. The relevant forum is the Tenancy Court.
Whether the outgoing tenant’s right passes to another tenant or possession of the property returns to the owner, the tenant is entitled to receive their share of the key money.
A skilled key money lawyer who specializes in protected tenancy can guide you through the process and take the matter to the relevant court where needed.
As noted, a protected tenant is shielded against eviction from the property. Only in a few cases can a protected tenant be evicted from an apartment or business premises.
The grounds for eviction are set out in law, and when one of them exists the tenant may be evicted. The main ones are:
*The tenant stopped paying the rent due.
*The tenant caused deliberate damage to the rented property.
*The tenant used the rented property for an unlawful purpose.
* The tenant failed to meet a condition of the lease whose breach entitles the landlord to demand eviction.
*The tenant made changes to the property in breach of the tenancy agreement.
*The tenant abandoned the property.
Sometimes the owner needs the apartment and seeks to evict the tenant not on one of the grounds above, but in order to renovate or rebuild the building, for example as part of a TAMA project. Eviction is possible in such a case, under the law, provided the tenant has been given notice and alternative accommodation has been arranged.
An owner who wishes to file an eviction claim will usually turn to the Tenancy Court, and every Magistrate’s Court has jurisdiction to hear Tenancy Court matters.
The court will not grant an eviction claim lightly. It examines the case and weighs the owner’s needs against the consequences the tenant would face on being evicted. Even where the owner proves a ground for eviction, the court may find, in the circumstances, that the protected tenant would suffer very serious harm and dismiss the claim for that reason. Another possibility is that the court grants the claim and awards compensation to the protected tenant.
Selling a protected tenancy right? Filing an eviction claim? Talk to a lawyer today
Whether you wish to sell a protected tenancy right, are about to file an eviction claim in the Tenancy Court, or have another legal question concerning a key money property, turn to a lawyer who specializes in the field and can assess your case and assist you.
Our firm, headed by Avital Horef, a certified lawyer and mediator specializing in real estate law (purchase, sale and protected tenancy), family law, and administrative and civil law, offers reliable, professional service of the highest order.
Adv. Horef has extensive experience in a range of legal fields, including protected tenancy and the procedures these transactions involve.
At the office of Adv. Avital Horef we will listen to you, study the matter in depth, and help you reach the best possible outcome. We will be glad to assist.
Protected tenancy, or a key money agreement, is a special form of tenancy that has existed in Israel since the early twentieth century. It differs from an ordinary tenancy: the protected tenant’s occupancy is not limited in time, and in principle the tenant may live in the apartment for the rest of their life. The rent paid is also very low, and the landlord cannot demand an increase beyond a minimal annual adjustment.
Protected tenancy is possible both in a residential apartment and in business premises such as offices or shops.
Contrary to popular belief, protected tenants are limited in their ability to transfer their rights in the property to others. On the death of a protected tenant, the rights in the property pass only to first-degree relatives, and only under certain conditions.
Alongside the benefits a protected tenant enjoys come obligations. The tenant must keep strictly to the terms of the tenancy, pay the rent on time, and must not abandon the property, since doing so may put those rights at risk.
Take, for example, someone who lives with family in protected housing in the center of the country and opens a business in the south. To run the business, they sleep away from home about two nights, in the south, while the family carries on living in the apartment in the center. The claim against them could be that because they also live elsewhere, they count as having abandoned the property and can therefore be evicted.
To meet that claim, and other grounds for eviction, it is worth consulting a lawyer with experience and knowledge in the field of key money.
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