Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- P'ninat Mishpat
Ruling: If there were not a discussion between the sides in advance, then this would have been a classic case of one who lives in his friend’s house without permission and we would have had to determine whether this is a home that people usually pay for and whether the recipient was in need of its use (see Bava Kama 20b; Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 363:6-10).
However, since there was a discussion in advance and pl expressed that he did not agree that def should use it for free, the pertinent ruling is of the Rama (CM 363:6) – one cannot be forced to allow someone to use his property for free. Although it is possible to force someone who does not lose anything as a result to allow someone to use his property, that does not apply when the property owner could have used it himself, including by renting it out to someone else. The K’tzot Hachoshen posited that the determining factor is the wording of the one who lets his counterpart in, and here pl was clear. It is not important whether def was clear that he did not think he needed to pay.
Regarding the modem, it is possible to discuss whether, as one who agreed to host the modem and was receiving the apartment specifically with the modem within, def was a shomer chinam (unpaid watchman) or a shomer sachar (a paid watchman). This determination would be impactful here because the modem was apparently stolen. However, def and his painter did not see the modem when they entered the apartment, and therefore it is likely that it was stolen before def moved in, possibly by the cleaning staff. In that case, def never began being a watchman in the first place.
Therefore, def will pay pl 1,750 for half a month’s rent and is exempt from paying for the modem.
P'ninat Mishpat (802)
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit
573 - Compensating for a Breach of Exclusivity Agreement
574 - Overlapping Rentals
575 - A Homeowner Paying for Building Slowly
Load More
P'ninat Mishpat: Did the Real Estate Agent Remain Relevant?
based on ruling 84031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Adar 5784
P'ninat Mishpat: Amounts and Conditions of Payment to an Architect – part IV
based on appeal of ruling 83061 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Sivan 5785
P'ninat Mishpat: Rental of an Apartment that Was Not Quite Ready – part II
based on ruling 82031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Iyar 5784
P'ninat Mishpat: Unsuccessful Transfer of Yeshiva – part III
based on ruling 82138 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Nisan 5784
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit
Who Breached the Contract? – part IV
Based on ruling 81087 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Iyar 20 5783
Payments after a Gradual End of Employment
(Based on ruling 82024 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Nissan 5783
Raffle of Property in Eretz Yisrael for Tzedaka
Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: – #220
18 Sivan 5784
