Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- P'ninat Mishpat
Case: The plaintiff (=pl) has been renting an apartment from the defendants’ (=def) father and after his death from them for a long time, on a monthly basis. Now, pl claims rights under the Law for the Protection a Tenant and wants to sublet the property and receive part of the key money.
Ruling: In general, beit din accepts the Law for the Protection of a Tenant. This falls within the rights of the community to set prices in order to manage commerce for the public’s benefit (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 231:27), as it can also set a price required to free up an apartment from its status of being rented. At a time when there is an insufficient supply of rental apartments, it is crucial to provide protection for renters. The practice of key money is included in this authority. Although poskim refer to the need to receive approval from a "great person in charge of the community" (Rama and Shach, ad loc.), that is needed only so that penalties can be levied against violators, and not to regulate prices. In any case, Rashi (Bava Batra 9a) says that if the matter is done in the presence of the city’s rabbi, his silence is sufficient. In this case, the Chief Rabbinate raised no objections to the legislation.
The original contract between def’s father and pl allowed renewal of the rental upon notice, and that notice is to be assumed if pl continued living there. The contract also stated that if the landlord’s son got married and wanted the apartment, pl would have to vacate it. Under such circumstances, the Law for the Protection of a Tenant would not apply. Pl claims that since that agreement lapsed and he continued living there without a contact, the law applies. However, the halacha is that when there is a detailed agreement for a time period and the general agreement is extended without stipulation, the previous conditions continue (Shulchan Aruch, CM 312:9). Therefore, the existing agreement obviates the Law of Protection of a Tenant.
Furthermore, when the landlord’s son married, he demanded the apartment, and pl refused to vacate it, against the agreement. Pl justifies this with the claim that he was supposed to receive a room to live in, which was not provided. However, the contract states that there was another option – return of the relevant rental fee – and this the landlord did offer and pl improperly rejected. The landlord eventually tired of trying to evict pl and allowed him to stay thereafter, and we say that when one party improperly pressures the other into a sale, the sale is valid (ibid. 205:1). However, that improper continuation of living in the apartment should not be viewed as undoing the original agreement and therefore does not afford pl the rights guaranteed by the law, as the law states that it is for legal occupation. Therefore, pl does not have the right to sublet the apartment and receive part of the key money.
P'ninat Mishpat (835)
Various Rabbis
264 - Rights to Make Changes in a Walkway
265 - Applying the Law
266 - Authority to Rule Based
Load More
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: A Contractor’s Leaving the Job in the Middle – part III
based on ruling 84013 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Agricultural Water Rights – part II
based on ruling 84122 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Various Events FOR WHOM NOT TO VOTE
Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook stressed that Israeli politics is G-dly, so I have no problem answering this common question on a Torani blog. Also, Free-Will is a G-d-given right and obligation, to "destine one's fate" (R. Soloveichik, Kol Dodi Dofek, 67), so I obviously don't tell others how to vote. But once not a few (especially young) have already asked, a couple of personal words from experience and thoughts from chazal & Rav Kook which may be of help to others, mainly for whom NOT to vote.
P'ninat Mishpat Fallout from Failure to Install Elevator – part II
based on ruling 85007 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
