“Do you remember me?” he asked as he walked into the office.
Truthfully, the face looked familiar, but I had no idea who the man was or where we knew each other from.
“Help me. Give me a hint,” I said.
The man sat in the chair opposite me. He took a breath, smiled and let me wait in suspense.
“I'll tell you a story. A few years ago I bought an apartment in a foreign country. The broker suggested that I divide it into 2 housing units in order to maximize the yield. I hesitated. I didn't understand the implications, and truthfully I wasn't that interested, because the broker had got me excited about the idea and the numbers he showed were fantastic. I consulted, and the implications were explained to me, but as I said, I ignored them.
I split the apartment as the broker suggested, and I really did earn nicely from the apartment.”
Okay, so...
“You still don't recognize me?”
No.
“I was with you for a consultation. You told me there was a chance that problems would arise later if I did it without the municipality's approval. Unfortunately, I didn't listen to you, and a month ago I received a lawsuit from the municipality, from the neighbors and from the building's management company. The municipality is suing over unlicensed works, a split contrary to law, and I don't remember what else. The neighbors filed a claim for the drop in value of their apartments because of the split, and the management company is suing because I hid the split from them, since I paid management fees for one apartment and not two.”
Wow, I said, and I still don't remember our previous meeting.
Stories are based on real situations, with identifying details changed. Not legal advice.
Translated from the Hebrew original. עברית