The housing crisis in the country is nothing new, nor is the fact that it leads to an increase in rents, to subdivided apartments that are uninhabitable and to general neglect in the entire field.
Sometimes it seems that every tiny little room deserves to be rented for a hefty sum, and that is even before we talked about what is happening in Tel Aviv.
How many times have you seen apartments for rent that look like a niche from the First World War period for the price of a three-room apartment? Or a half-room apartment in a shelter that costs like a teacher's salary and is described as "airy and beautiful"? Or even encounter strange requests from apartment advertisers, who start by paying brokerage fees and buying the old furniture at an exorbitant price and end up with "the landlord comes twice a year for a month, you will have to find another place to live in that period"?
The Facebook page "Apartments in Israel that oppress me" was set up just to mock this phenomenon, and regularly uploads ridiculous photos of tiny ruins that are offered for rent at an exorbitant price.
The stand has a handsome number of 63,000 followers, a number that continues to grow just as the apartments continue to shrink.
We spoke to the person behind the management of the page, and were asked not to reveal who it was.
"There are apartment owners who kindly ask me to download the post about the apartment they offered for rent, but there are those who also threaten lawsuits. That's one of the reasons I'm anonymous - even though they really have no reason to sue. I do shaming the phenomenon and not the people themselves."
How did the idea for the page actually start?
"It started when I was looking to move. I was born and lived in Tel Aviv so I wanted to stay in this city. All the apartments I found were angled, but what made me get up and open the page was a truck converted into a residence and parked it by the sea. "I told myself that something must be done about it because it is both entertaining and sad, and it is possible to raise awareness of this phenomenon."
And how is the apartment you found?
"Quite small, an old 40-meter apartment in north Tel Aviv. The rent is NIS 4,000 a month."
Amazing price.
"It came out like this by chance ... I called the one who rented it five minutes after he posted the ad and no one got to see it, and luckily he didn't raise my rent for the four years I was there."
The posts uploaded to the Facebook page are many and varied, and almost everyone is shocked and squeezes astonishing responses from readers.
An apartment "renovated like new" whose old tiles are broken and it looks like it will collapse in a moment, an apartment that looks like a fire broke out that left it scorched, beds next to the refrigerator next to the toilet, appliances that touch the bathroom due to lack of space and more and more.
"The reactions that are received are mostly positive, but there are a lot of people who think I have a political agenda behind the posts even though I never expressed any opinion on the subject. In my eyes everyone suffers from it, no matter what political side they are on. And there were apartment owners who did not like this whole story And they were offended when I published the apartment. "
Were there any inquiries from apartment owners who posted their ads?
"A lot of times. Sometimes they kindly ask me to download the post, sometimes they threaten lawsuits. That's one of the reasons I'm anonymous - even though they really have no reason to sue. When I would upload posts with credit to the people who sent me the photos - sometimes I had to download the post "They received threats. I am shaming the phenomenon and not the people themselves."
What is the most shocking case you remember?
"There was a post I posted recently that went viral. They advertised in Boydam an apartment for rent as a separate unit with a ladder. It was a roommate who was looking for a fourth partner - who would have to live in Boydum. My profession is architecture, Enough. There was also a post of an apartment posted with lots of pictures of dead cockroaches on the floor. The owners of the apartment wrote that it was stunning, but even without the cockroaches it was very far from being like that. "
What angular requirements in particular did you come across?
"A lot of people abandon their animals and demand tenants to come in and take care of them. It seems to me morally and ethically problematic. There are those who demand the purchase of furniture.
Ask for eviction fees, all kinds of inventions.
There are those who are waiting to leave the apartment on weekends because the landlord is coming, or to know that he has come to sleep in the living room and will not interfere. "
Were there any posts you posted about apartments that you found problematic, and the surfers actually liked?
"There are ads that seem shocking and angular to me and to some followers not, I'm not sure if it's because people gave in to the situation or maybe it's because the other things I bring up are especially bad, and 'just bad' have become less terrible. "Huge windows that can be seen from the outside, and people thought living in a bus was cool. Some say that some of the apartments do not look very, very ruined, or that the price is cheap - without considering that the apartment itself is tiny and windowless and should not have been rented to a human being."
It's just like dating sites.
"Just like that. Realization of reality. People call their apartment 'renovated' when all they did was paint a wall. Or 'partial renovation' after replacing a toilet because it broke. People do not spare superlatives. Or those who say 'we wanted to keep the character of the apartment.' "When it comes to something ruined and asleep with a crumbling wall that termites seem to have eaten."