Mortgage debtors will not remain homeless
Long battle conducted by civil rights groups leads to amendment in Writ of Execution Law that forces banks to fund alternative housing for lenders who defaulted on their loans
An amendment to the Writ of Execution Law, which is set to go into effect on Sunday, will protect the rights of mortgage debtors and ensure that they are not thrown out of their homes after failing to meet mortgage payments.
Some 2,000 families are evacuated from their homes by the banks every year after defaulting on their loans. The current recession has caused the numbers to grow substantially.
The amendment is part of a wider reform in the law that is the result of a long, strenuous battle conducted by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and other rights groups.
In fact, even before this amendment was passed the law included a clause enabling the Execution Office to require banks to fund alternative housing for tenants removed from their homes. But the banks have introduced their own clause to mortgage contracts forcing lenders to waive their right to this protection.
The clause has become a permanent component of all mortgage contracts.
The new amendment prohibits banks from including this clause in their contracts. Simultaneously it states that banks will be asked to pay for alternative housing for periods not exceeding 18 months.
