A man purchased an “apartment” but later discovered that from a planning perspective, the area in question was a sealed space on the basement floor and that the apartment did not have a valid building permit. The buyer demanded compensation from both the seller and the lawyer who accompanied the sale transaction.
The court accepted the buyer’s claim and ruled that the seller and the lawyer would compensate the buyer for the damage he suffered. An injured party is entitled to compensation for the damage he suffered due to a breach of contract and its consequences, which the violator saw or should have seen in advance, at the time of concluding the contract, as a probable result of the breach. The presentation of a knowingly untrue fact with the intention that the person being misled will act on the false representation constitutes fraud. Here, the nature of the property sold as described in the sales agreement did not correspond to the true design condition of the apartment, which is a sealed space built without a legal building permit, and the agreement with it was breached. In addition, both the seller and the lawyer presented the “apartment” to the buyer as an “apartment” for all intents and purposes, built according to a legal permit, and the buyer relied on this false representation, purchased the “apartment” and suffered financial damage as a result. Therefore, the seller and the lawyer will together compensate the buyer with hundreds of thousands of shekels, an amount that reflects the value of the ownership rights “in the apartment” as an apartment built according to a legal building permit.
Published in Legal Channel 432 05.02.2025 Afik & Co. https://he.afiklaw.com/
To read the verdict, Case No. 5734-11-21, Omar Bitar v. Hani Duik
