News for renters: Peace Court has determined that if you rent an apartment that has significant deficiencies that have not been repaired and do not allow proper housing, you are not obliged to pay rent.

• Photo by Omar Messinger

Good news for renters - if you rent an apartment that is uninhabitable and has significant deficiencies that have not been repaired and that do not allow proper housing, you do not have to pay more rent, even if you have committed to it.

This conclusion emerges from the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court ruling that because a building rented in Jaljulia is uninhabitable (the ceiling in which it collapsed and the apartment was flooded with rainwater) is also unworthy of rents, even if these are fixed in the contract.

This is a lawsuit filed by an apartment owner against a person who leased the property after it refused to continue to pay him a total of NIS 20,000 in aggregate due to failures in the untreated property. Among other things, the apartment ceiling collapsed and was not repaired for a long period of time, the apartment was flooded with water and caused damage to the furniture and equipment of the tenant and his family, and eventually the tenant had to leave the property and live in a split with friends and family, with the owner continuing to collect full rent from him to him.

The tenant also sued the owner of the property for damages caused to him and distress of NIS 63,408.

The court consolidated the two claims and presided over the joint hearing. The court rejected the landlord's claim and partially accepted the tenant's claim, with Magistrate Ariel Bergner ruling that since the apartment was uninhabitable, the rent paid for that period would also be reimbursed for a mental grief totaling NIS 15,400 plus refunds.

My attorney Bornstein

Advocate Shelly Bornstein, a commercial law expert representing the tenant, said in response to the ruling: "Unfortunately, many tenants in the State of Israel grant their lease agreement the rights, without taking into account that the lease agreement also contains obligations that they must fulfill. Light and material, in light of the new law in the Rental and Lending Law, including numerous legislative amendments aimed at protecting tenants in the State of Israel, in relation to residential apartments.

"In the judgment we are dealing with, I represented the tenant, and to my delight, justice prevailed. The court rejected the landlord's claim for proper rent, partially accepted the tenant's claim and required the landlord to compensate the tenant for damages caused by the condition of the leased dwelling."