Fourth, it is the world's way that during negotiations for the sale of an apartment, the price demanded by the seller first is not necessarily the price at which he ultimately sells his apartment. In these circumstances, when the plaintiff and the defendant reached an agreement whereby the price of the apartment would be ILS 2,030,000, instead of the defendant's initial demand for consideration in the sum of ILS 2,200,000, this does not necessarily indicate that the real value of the apartment is as demanded by the defendant first. As stated, in our case, the opposite is actually interpreted. For this reason as well, it is not clear what the plaintiff found to demand a prima facie "loss of discount" ruling that did not correspond at all to the price of the apartment, and in any case was not proven.
Is there room to award the plaintiff reliance damages?
As an alternative remedy to the subsistence compensation, the plaintiff petitioned for a ruling of "reliance damages in the amount of ILS 132,738 due to the sale of her apartment for the purpose of financing the purchase of the apartment, for her losses as follows: the sale of the plaintiff's apartment at a loss of ILS 80,000 in relation to the market value; a broker's fee of ILS 25,228...; attorney's fees in the amount of ILS 5,387...; emotional distress in the amount of ILS 22,123... " (Clause 2.2.2 of the statement of claim).
In other words, the plaintiff claimed that in order to finance the purchase of the defendant's apartment, she was forced to sell her apartment in Kiryat Bialik at a price lower than the market price of ILS 80,000 , and that in addition, she was forced to pay an apartment broker to bear the cost of attorney's fees. She also petitioned for an award for compensation for mental anguish.
As may be recalled, reliance compensation is intended to put the victim in the position he would have been in had he not entered into negotiations.
In our case, the plaintiff claimed in her affidavit that in June 2024, around June 2024, she decided to purchase a residential apartment in the Tze'elim neighborhood of Eilat, where she has been living since 2007, and for this purpose she contacted the realtor Tal. The plaintiff further claimed that in order to finance the purchase of the apartment, she began to advertise her apartment in Kiryat Bialik for sale, and at the same time, she was preparing to take a loan from a mortgage bank (paragraphs 6-7 of the affidavit). She also claimed that only during the month of August 2024 did the defendant begin to advertise his apartment (ibid., paragraph 8).