Legal Updates

A non-Israeli plaintiff with a single asset in Israel with a cautionary note to a third party may be required to deposit a guarantee

September 25, 2025
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A Honduran citizen filed a lawsuit to cancel the sale of a real estate property he owns, his only asset in Israel, on which an additional cautionary note was recorded in favor of a third party.  The Court granted the motion of the defendants htat the plaintiff deposit a guarantee to secure their costs.  Under Israeli law, a Court may order a plaintiff to provide a guarantee for the defendant's costs.  Still, it will only do so in exceptional circumstances, such as when the plaintiff is a foreign resident with no assets in Israel from which costs could be easily collected if the claim is dismissed.  The purpose of the guarantee is to prevent a situation in which a winning defendant cannot recover their costs.  Here, the plaintiff is a foreign resident and the property in question is his only asset in the country.  Moreover, the recording of an additional cautionary note on the property in favor of a third party creates a substantial encumbrance on the future ability to collect from the asset.  Accordingly, the plaintiff was ordered to deposit ILS 150,000 to secure the defendants' costs.