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NEWS
Jerusalem Municipality Warns Against Buying Apartments in
Illegal Buildings
By Betzalel Kahn
Following a recent incident in which the Jerusalem
Municipality was forced to raze a five-story building on
Rechov Chofetz Chaim in Geulah near the Zichron Moshe shul
due to serious structural defects which, according to the
municipality, posed a real threat to the inhabitants,
apartment buyers and renters are being urged to contact the
Municipality before closing any deal in order to confirm that
the apartment has legal building permits and the Inspection
Department has no files against it.
The information can be obtained by going to the municipality
or contacting the City Licensing and City Inspection
Departments. The municipality also offers information on any
applicable capital gains taxes to insure that the seller does
not pass them onto the buyer as part of the contract.
The municipality says in the case of the building on Rechov
Chofetz Chaim, the buyers were tempted to purchase the
apartments at about half the price of similar apartments in
the area, putting their own lives and their families' lives
at stake. According to the municipality the building was
constructed without a building license and even after a stop
order was issued along with repeated warnings by the
municipality and the courts, the contractor continued his
shoddy work, building another three stories in violation of
regulations. "The contractor intended to make the building
unknown to the Municipality and his efforts to cut costs
rendered the structure unstable and unsuitable for use as
living quarters," said a municipality official.
An inspection conducted by the municipality revealed that the
construction elements between the columns and the beams would
have led the building to collapse following a light tremor,
such as even a gas tank explosion or ground movements. The
Municipality says that even the engineer the buyers hired to
give an alternative opinion had to concede, "The building
frame was made in a defective, negligent manner not in
keeping with regulations." Such construction is only possible
in the absence of municipal permits and oversight.
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