The second level of the plaintiffs' claims: the liability of the defendants after the group was formed and they served as its lawyers
- At this point, we need to change our perspective. This is where the purchasing group with its various organs began to operate.
The dominant factor in the life of the group is the group organizer, defined in section 1 of the Real Estate Taxation Law (Appreciation and Purchase), 5723-1963 (hereinafter: the Real Estate Taxation Law) as an "organizing entity", which is "a person who acts by himself or through another to organize the group of purchasers for the purpose of purchase and construction, including the preparation of the contractual framework, all in exchange for the activities of the organization as aforesaid". In our case, Ms . Or served as the group's organizer, and acted with a high hand to advance her plan for the joint planning of lots 104 and 102.
Of course, each group includes its members, who are partners in the journey, and at the end of the day, they all hope that they will be able to become owners of rights in apartments at a more attractive price compared to the traditional channel of purchasing them from a contractor. The members of the group usually elect a representative or a committee in order to promote its interests, and this was also the case in our case (see above in paragraph 9).
- And all of them are assisted by the services of professionals, led by the lawyers who provide the group with legal services. In the circumstances of the present case, as we have seen, each of the members of the class signed an order for legal services from the law firm of Cassuto-Nof. In accordance with Section 1 of the Agreement, these services included:
- drafting the sharing agreement and signing it by the group members;
- Signing any document required for the execution of the land purchase agreement, and handling the transfer of rights following it;
- reporting the purchase to the tax authorities, and handling the registration of the rights in the buyers' units at the Land Registry Offices;
- Legal support in legal engagements with service providers, including consultants, contractors and suppliers;
- accompanying the buyers in their negotiations with the financing bank; and in the licensing procedures with the municipality and the planning bodies;
- Registration of the project as a condominium at the Land Registry Office.
- This general view from a bird's eye view of the purchasing group before us, which is similar in essence to many others, is sufficient to understand the dangers facing the individual members of the group.
These friends embark on a journey that can be long and complicated. They entrust the best of their money and their hopes and aspirations to others. They do not have the protections that are available to anyone who buys an apartment from a contractor. Despite all this, this dangerous activity is not being regulated by the various regulatory bodies in our places, and the legislative handling of the issue is not expected to bring good news in the foreseeable future.