Beyond Foreclosure, Protecting the Social Welfare of the Dispossessed?: Pablo Lerner on Approaches in Israeli Law

Pablo Lerner, abogado (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Doctor in Law (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Professor in the Academic Center of Law and Business (Ramat Gan, Israel) writes extensively in the area of property law and finance.  

 (Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2014; See also "Influencias Extranjeras en la formación de culturas jurídicas nacionales. El caso del Derecho Israelí", University of Buenoa Aires, Derecho Del Día, Año VIII, No. 152, 4 Nov. 2009 ("A su turno, el Dr. Pablo Lerner entendió que es necesario tener en cuenta una visión comparativista y una histórica para comprender a un sistema jurídico."))

He has recently published a very interesting article on Israeli efforts to soften the blow of foreclosure, and in the process develop (perhaps inadvertently) social welfare protections that appear to be human rights enhancing. Pablo Lerner, "La protección a los deudores hipotecarios: soluciones e interrogantes en la ley israelí," Revista Crítica de Derecho Inmobiliario, N.º 740, págs. 4041 a 4072.  

The Israeli approach, to provide for the provision of funds sufficient to pay rent for a period after foreclosure appears unique in legal systems.  Though Professor Lerner suggests it raises a number of issues, it does also suggest the possibility of building human rights sensitive provisions even into ancient domestic law fields.   The abstract, in English and Spanish, follow. 

ABSTRACT: MORTGAGES - DEBTORS AND CREDITORS - ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS

The Israeli Law of Execution (amended in 2009) gives the mortgagor, whose dwelling house has been sold, the right to receive from the proceeds of the foreclosure the sum that would be needed to rent an accommodation for a period of 18 months. In this way, the mortgagor and his family will have an alternative accommodation for a limited period. This regulation does not appear in other legal systems and raises several important questions about the conflict between the debtor's and the creditor's rights and, more generally, about the attempts to find solutions to housing problems.

RESUMEN: OBLIGACIONES HIPOTECARIAS. PROTECCIÓN AL DEUDOR. JUICIO EJECUTIVO

Cuando un deudor hipotecario no paga la hipoteca, el bien inmueble es vendido. La ley de ejecuciones de Israel (reformada en el 2009) permite al deudor hipotecario cuya vivienda es vendida, recibir del precio de la venta, una suma equivalente a dieciocho meses de alquiler, y de esta manera tener un techo para él y su familia al menos en forma temporaria. Esta disposición, que no aparece en otros sistemas jurídicos, plantea distinta cuestiones ligadas al relación deudores-acreedores. La norma en estudio se enmarca en el debate sobre cómo solucionar el problema habitacional sin acudir a un endeudamiento abusivo.

For those who might be interested, Professor Lerner has also recently published Il Divieto di Macellazione Rituale el la Liberta Religiosa delle Minoranze (with A. M. Rabello), Trento, 2010; " "Indirect Enforcement in the Execution Law", Bar Ilan Law Review (2011) 7; "The (Re) Codification of Israeli Private Law : Support for, and criticism of, the Israeli Draft Civil Law Code" (with A. M. Rabello), 59 American Journal of Comparative Law (2011) pp. 763-803; El Proyecto de Código Civil del Estado de Israel” La Ley (Arg.) (2012)  730; “Hurdles in the Harmonization of Unjust Enrichment" Osservatorio del Diritto Civile e Commerciale (2012) 135;  Exempted Assets in the Enforcement of Judgments and Bankruptcy Proceedings (in Hebrew), Tel Aviv, 2013.

I have considered other work by Professor Lerner here:

Disciplining Harmonization: Pablo Lerner on Common Principles of Comparative Law and the New Ius Commune (2009)

Ordering Markets for Academic Knowledge Goes Global: Pablo Lerner on "Foreign Influences and 'Law Reviews Rankings' in Israeli Legal Scholarship " (2013)