Another Scary Thing in Israel

Little in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine ending up living in Israel, especially in an apartment with a panoramic view of the Mediterranean Sea.  Well, not the sea, Haifa Bay, close enough.  And the scenery isn't exactly perfect because of the oil rigs and industrial machinery, but still overall it's a nice view. We move in on the 12th.

Renting an apartment is not quite the same as how you would do it in the States.  In the States you fill out an application, possibly pay around $50 for the landlord to do a credit check, come up with deposit and first month's rent.  Or possibly deposit, first and last month's rent.  Some states cap the deposit amount to no more than one month's rent.  Then you sign a lease and move in.

How much different could it be in Israel?  A lot.

First, there are two types of landlords:  the landlord that feels it is a blessing to help the new olim, and the landlord who sees the new olim coming.  I hope we got the landlord that wanted to give the olim a break.

In the United States, the rent covers the property tax and the HOA fees.  In Israel tenants pay the owner's HOA fees and property tax, or as they say in Israel: ar-no-nah.  Fortunately, the government pays 90% of the new olim's ar-no-nah for the first year.  Then after a year for five years the olim has subsidized rent:  a subsidy just enough to pay the ar-no-nah.  We are not sure why the homeowner doesn't pay their own property tax and reflect that amount in the rent, but that's how it is done here.


Rather than paying rent on the first of each month, you have to give the landlord post-dated checks for an entire year which they will deposit into the bank.  Unlike US banks, Israeli banks will honor post dated checks and hold them until the specified date.  The rent is automatically paid.  You just better make sure the money is in the account when the bank deducts for the rent.

We had to give a years worth of checks plus pay two month's rent worth of deposit, first month's rent and an entire year's worth of HOA.  In addition the landlord is holding another check for 10,000 shekels that will not be cashed -- we hope -- and will be returned to us when we move, leaving the apartment in absolutely pristine condition, and of course, that we never bounced a check and kept up the utility payments.  At least we're pretty sure that's what happens.  We signed a lease written entirely in Hebrew.  We had a native Hebrew speaker look it over and tell us it was a standard lease and had someone else translate it as best they could figure it out, but still we really don't know what we signed.

Gulp.