Illustration: Event hall (Photo: ShutterStock)
The District Court in Haifa required the company that operated the event garden in Zichron Ya'akov to pay the local council a total of approximately NIS 2.6 million for unpaid rent since 1992. In addition, the company, as well as its owner personally, was ordered to pay for unpaid property tax debts in - The last 7 years.
The company's statute of limitations claims for this matter were all rejected.
For the rent debts, the company was ordered to pay about NIS 1.6 million, and for property tax debts from 2014, another NIS 640,000.
The judge, Dr. Menachem Raniel, even ordered the defendants to pay the council about NIS 250,000 for legal expenses, fee reimbursement and attorneys' fees.
what happened there?
In 1986 a protected lease agreement was signed between the council and previous tenants and a year later a non-protected lease agreement was signed on the land.
The company stepped into the shoes of the previous tenants in 1994, and operated the events garden in question instead.
Over the years, a dispute arose between the parties regarding the border between the free rent and protected rent, which was clarified in the Magistrate's Court and finally decided in the District Court, which determined the border line between the rents.
Following this ruling, the owner of the company claimed that the council owed him a lot of money, but an investigation by the council revealed that the company and its owners are the ones who owe the council money, and as a result, the council filed a lawsuit against the company and its owners, through lawyers Hagai Ashlagi and Elisef Miller from the Cohen Wilchik office Co.
The council demanded payment of the rent from 1992.
On the other hand, the company and its owner claimed that they had stopped using the land, and that the court previously ruled in favor of the company and even presented a settlement document indicating, in its opinion, that all debts had been paid up to 1998. In addition, the company filed a counterclaim for a total of approximately NIS 2.7 million , in which she demanded compensation from the council due to the closure of the complex, loss of profits and more.
how did it end
The court rejected the defendants' claims that they vacated part of the complex back in 2004, determined that the company still owned the place and stated that it did not give up its rights to the property, and rejected the claims regarding the settlement document.
It was determined that the Garden of Events complex operated without a business license for many years, due to its non-compliance with the existing law, and its closure has nothing to do with the council. The court also received the opinion of the expert on behalf of the council, CPA Nir Nahmani, that there is a debt for fees The protected rents from 1992 in the amount of 1.3 million NIS, and that there is a debt for the free rents from 1997 in the amount of 1.7 million NIS.
Since the defendants proved that over the years they paid a total of about NIS 1.4 million, the debt remains for a total of about NIS 1.6 million, with the addition of interest and linkage, its value today is about NIS 1.75 million.
In addition, the court ruled that there is a property tax debt for the past 7 years in the amount of approximately 640 thousand shekels, with the addition of linkage and interest, they are currently 690 thousand shekels.
Also as stated, the company and its owner were required to bear the amount of the fee, the expenses of the expert on behalf of the council, and the attorneys' fees, in the amount of approximately NIS 250,000.
It should be noted that during the proceedings in the district court, and in light of the company's claims, the council initiated a procedure to evict the company from the protected land, due to their abandonment.
Real estate
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