An Israeli enforcement registrar has ordered the closure of a 25-year-old debt consolidation case against a 73-year-old woman suffering from a serious illness after most of her creditors failed to oppose the request and citing her medical, financial and personal circumstances.
In the recent ruling, Jerusalem Enforcement and Collection Authority Registrar Sarai Gabay-Nuriel closed the woman's debt consolidation file, which had been pending since 1999 and covered eight separate enforcement cases filed by institutional creditors.
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According to the decision, the woman owes about 21 million shekels (about $6.3 million), a debt that grew from roughly 1 million shekels over the years, largely because of accumulated interest and inflation-linked charges on debts shared with her late husband.
One of the largest claims, filed by a bank, increased from about 124,000 shekels when the case was opened to approximately 14.5 million shekels, according to the ruling.
The registrar said the woman, who is battling cancer, lives in poverty on National Insurance benefits and assistance from charitable organizations. The decision also said she had experienced domestic violence at the hands of her late husband and had been recognized by social welfare authorities.
Despite her circumstances, the ruling said, she continued for many years to make the monthly court-ordered payment of 100 shekels toward the consolidated debt.
During enforcement proceedings, the court was told that the woman had been advised to undergo potentially life-saving medical treatment abroad but had been unable to do so because of restrictions stemming from her outstanding debts and enforcement orders.
The case was referred to a community registrar for review, and creditors were invited to attend a hearing or submit their positions. Most failed to appear or file objections.
Sarai Gabay-Nuriel Photo: Enforcement and Collection Authority Only one private creditor attended the hearing and agreed to waive collection of the debt because of the woman's condition. A bank that had requested clarification regarding the woman's rights to her residence neither attended the hearing nor submitted a position.
In her decision, Gabay-Nuriel wrote that once creditors had been given an opportunity to participate but chose not to do so, the court was required to examine the case "through a broader prism" that considered not only debt collection but also principles of justice, proportionality and human dignity.
She ordered the enforcement files against the woman closed, writing that "the public interest, from a humanitarian perspective, requires allowing the debtor to focus her limited financial and emotional resources on coping with her medical condition and obtaining the treatment she needs, which may save her life, rather than directing those resources toward prolonged collection proceedings and payments that are not expected to result in meaningful repayment during her lifetime."
The registrar also wrote that while creditors have a legitimate right to recover debts, there are exceptional cases in which continued collection "no longer serves the purpose of the proceedings, but instead places an unnecessary burden on a person in the final stage of life while coping with serious illness, loneliness and deprivation."
The ruling closes the enforcement cases included in the debt consolidation proceedings as they relate to the woman. Collection efforts in cases involving her late husband will continue against his estate.