The developer's lawyer is not your lawyer — and the regulations say so

At the sales office one sometimes hears a sentence that sounds generous: "We have a lawyer, he handles everything". The sentence is partly true, and the part that is not true is the part that costs money later.

The seller's lawyer represents the seller. That is not a flaw or a trick — it is the job. He writes the contract, and he writes it to serve whoever hired him.

What the regulations actually permit charging

The Sale (Apartments) (Limitation of Legal Expenses) Regulations, 5775-2014 capped the sum a seller may require a buyer to pay as a contribution to legal expenses. The sum is index-linked, and in 2019 it stood at NIS 5,019.

Update warning: the sum is index-linked, so the 2019 figure is not the sum that would be charged today. The current figure is checked against the regulations and the competent authority's publication at the time of signing, not against an article. What is fixed is the rule: the sum is capped, and it must cover the first three items in the table.

The practical point: that sum buys registration, not representation. It does not buy a contract review, it does not buy negotiation over clauses, and it does not buy someone to stand against the developer on the day there is a non-conformity.

What is left with no owner

If the developer's lawyer does the registration and nobody else enters the picture, these are the items nobody has checked:

1. The handover clause — the date, what counts as a permitted delay, and how lateness is measured. Explained in the article on late handover.
2. The security — which of the five securities is given, from when, and what happens above 7%. Explained in the article on the seven per cent.
3. The payment schedule — whether it tracks the construction stages, and whether it is linked to the construction inputs index. Explained in the article on the payment schedule and the article on the construction inputs index.
4. The specification — what exactly was declared, and how it differs from the rendering. Explained in the article on the sale specification and the article on rendering versus specification.
5. The apartment's area — by which rule it is measured, and what deviation is permitted. Explained in the article on apartment area.
6. Common property and by-laws — the share ratio, the expense key, and attachments. Explained in the article on common property and by-laws.
7. The inspection and warranty periods — which items, how long each runs, and the notice deadlines. Explained in the article on inspection and warranty.

Seven items, all in one contract. There is no way to check them without reading the contract — and reading a contract is work, not a glance.

What a buyer's lawyer actually does

• Reads the contract against the specification and the plan, and finds the gaps between all three.
• Checks the security — what was promised, from which shekel, and what happens if the condition was not met.
• Negotiates clauses — not only price. A delay clause, a variations clause and a set-off clause are worth money.
• Verifies the other side — who the seller is, who the executing contractor is, and what the classification is. Explained in the article on who is who in a project and the article on vetting a contractor.
• Is still there after handover — when a non-conformity notice has to be sent in time. Explained in the article on the non-conformity notice.

Three questions to ask before signing

1. What sum is being charged to me for the seller's lawyer, and what it covers — in writing.
2. Who pays for what is not included — surveying, fees, extracts, mortgage registration.
3. Has the contract been reviewed by someone representing me — and if not, why not.

Sale documents for Tawfik Zidan Ltd projects are available through the contact page. The full list of what to read before signing is in the article on the sale contract.

Clarification: this article explains a legal framework and is not legal advice. A decision in a real-estate transaction is taken with a lawyer you have chosen, on the basis of that transaction's own documents.