Civil Claim in Rapid Hearing (Haifa) 65262-11-23 Yoav Shiner vs. Vitaly Salou-Bialik

Judgment

I have before me a banknote claim concerning three bills in the total amount of NIS 26,000, which were delivered to the plaintiff as a landlord by the defendant who rented from him his apartment on Moriah Street in Haifa (hereinafter: the "Apartment").

These are two checks in the amount of NIS 3,000 each, which were given to the plaintiff upon renewal of the lease at the end of the first year of lease (hereinafter: the "notes") and a security check in the amount of NIS 20,000 (hereinafter: the "security check") that was given to the plaintiff as part of the signing of the lease agreement entered into between the parties.

The legal proceedings between the parties  began with the request for execution of the three notes that the plaintiff filed against the defendant in the framework of the Writ of Execution case No. 516567-10-22.  The defendant filed an objection to the execution of the notes that were received, and in my decision of April 11, 2025, the proceeding was transferred to a speedy hearing.

Background

1. Between the plaintiff, the landlord (hereinafter: "Shiner"), and the defendant, the tenant (hereinafter: "Vitaly"), a lease agreement was entered into on October 29, 2020 (hereinafter: the "Agreement"), for a period of 12 months from November 1, 2020 until October 31, 2021, in exchange for monthly rent in the sum of NIS 3,000 (hereinafter: the "First Lease Period").
2. As part of the terms of the agreement, Vitaly appointed two guarantors: Guarantor 1 - Mr. Artyom Pansiuk (hereinafter: "Artyom"), and Guarantor 2 - Mr. Safadi Shadi.
3. At the end of the first lease period, the parties agreed to extend the lease period for an additional year, and accordingly an additional lease agreement was entered into between the parties that is valid until October 31, 2022 (hereinafter: the "Second Lease Period"). Vitaly transferred Shiner 12 checks in the amount of NIS 3,000 each, for the rent forthe second lease period, and it was also agreed that the security check given as part of the agreement regarding the first lease period in the amount of NIS 20,000 would also be used to secure Vitaly's obligations during the second lease period.
4. According to Vitaly, at the beginning of January 2022, he contacted Shiner and informed him that he had been fired from his job and therefore could not pay the rent for the second lease period.
5. Vitaly vacated the apartment at the end of April 2022. Sometime after Vitaly's departure, Scheiner began living in the apartment for a period of 8-9 months.  These facts are not in dispute.
6. The dispute between the parties that led to the filing of the lawsuit concerns their mutual claims regarding the manner of termination of the lease agreement for the second lease period and its financial implications.

According to Shiner, Vitaly left the apartment in a manner that was not in accordance with the provisions of clause 12.2 of the rental agreement, which stipulates that in the event of termination of the agreement before the period stipulated therein, Vitaly must notify Shiner at least 3 months in advance, and pay a fine of NIS 7,500 if Vitaly does not find a replacement tenant who will come in his shoes.  According to Shiner-Vitaly, he did not act in accordance with the aforementioned clause and even  left debts for municipal taxes, water and electricity payments for a period of about a year and a half, debts due to non-payment of rent for the months of January to April 2022, and also caused damage to the apartment that was discovered at the time of his eviction and which justify making the security check payable.