Inasmuch
as we need to keep our options for the next few years open, my wife and I are
no longer homeowners, at least for the moment.
Our son lined us up a rental apartment prior to our arrival in Israel,
and a friend of ours recommended his lawyer to us; it has proven to be a very
good recommendation. Our landlord is a American whose plans to have his son
live in the apartment went bust when the son's wife got indicted for some undisclosed
offense (I get the sense that it involved drugs), the marriage began to fall
apart, and the child custody and visitation arrangements effectively preclude the landlord's son from
leaving the area of his residence, much less the United States.
The
landlord wants what the lease agreement refers to as "commercial
silence," in return for which the monthly rental is reduced by 300 shekel
per month as long as we do not contact the landlord and our postdated "head checks" clear when the landlord's attorney deposits them every month. As is standard for Israel
apartment rentals, the tenant is required to pay, in addition to rent and utilities,
the common building charges assessed to the landlord.
Our
apartment building had a major elevator failure, necessitating costly repairs
which, in turn, necessitated a supposed one-time call of 725 shekel (this is in
addition to the 275 shekel per month we pay as ordinary building maintenance
fee).
To
be sure, we do get what we pay for. The
building is well maintained, including outside landscaping.
Before
we first came here, more than one friend/relative asked us why we didn't buy or
rent a single family house. Had we done
so, we would not have the advantage of 31 additional contributors to bear the
financial load of our general building repairs (not that too many single family
homes here have elevators, but they all have roofs, etc.).
Last
evening, I learned that the building superintendent has engaged counsel (who
lives in the building down the street) to try to recover what is now being
spent to fix the elevator. Whatever is
recovered will be returned to the tenants, whether in cash or as a credit
against future monthly maintenance fees.
The new counsel informs me that our chances of some sort of recovery
look quite promising.
Labels: Apartment Living, Maintenance Fees
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