Due to concerns about the statute of limitations, a claim for declaratory relief was filed against several parties, including a trustee in a loan agreement, to determine that a claim relating to a loan agreement was not subject to statue of limitation, when in the background is a compromise attempt to receive the full amount of the loan. This was despite the fact that the exact amount of damage was already known at the time of filing. As a result, a Court fee was paid in a reduced amount.
The Court held that the claim is a monetary claim and that it must be corrected while completing the fee amount. The rate of the fee for a claim is determined based onthe relief sought, distinguishing between a fixed amount and matters that are considered to be inestimable in terms of money and the Court fee for such is low. In order to prevent a plaintiff from filing a declaratory claim in order to avoid paying a high fee, in order to file a declaratory claim, the plaintiff must demonstrate that one cannot file a monetary claim. Here, the plaintiffs already know the extent of the damage they suffered due to the failure to repay the loans and even stated it in the statement of claim, and therefore they have the option of claiming monetary relief and are required to amend the claim to a monetary claim and pay the full amount of the fee.
For full disclosure, I.B.I. TRUST MANAGEMENT which is a defendant is this case, is represented by attorneys Doron Afik, Yair Aloni and Shelly Wilner of Afik & Co.