The phone rang several times from an unfamiliar number.
I didn't answer.
I thought to myself, another person asking “just a small question.”
But an hour and a half later there was a knock at the door, a courier, a brown envelope with a court stamp.
I opened it. And for a moment everything stopped.
I am the defendant.
Yes, a lawyer who has been accompanying real estate transactions for more than twenty years,
who has accompanied over 300 deals in Israel and abroad,
suddenly finds himself on the unexpected side of the story.
A client had bought an apartment about two years earlier in a luxury project in Bulgaria.
I served as trustee for the transaction funds - a clear and familiar role:
to hold the purchase funds, release them to the developer in accordance with the milestones,
and make sure each payment is made only after each stage of the transaction has been completed.
Everything was documented, everything was checked, everything was done by the book.
The money was transferred, the apartment was delivered, the project was closed.
From my point of view - another successful deal.
Until that envelope arrived.
The statement of claim said that the plaintiff claims the apartment was not purchased and was not registered in her name,
and that she demands that I, the trustee, return to her all the purchase funds.
I went through the file.
I found an old note. A lawyer on her behalf had phoned months earlier and asked
that I translate for him the agreement signed before the Bulgarian notary
and obtain a local land registry extract for her.
I explained that these actions involve costs, sent an orderly breakdown - and from there, silence.
Until suddenly, a lawsuit.
In the statement of defense we brought everything:
copies of the agreements signed before a notary in Bulgaria,
official extracts ordered (at our expense) from the property registry office,
trust account statements showing that the funds were transferred exactly according to the agreement,
and a signed confirmation from a local lawyer that the apartment is registered under the plaintiff's ownership.
Yesterday, the court accepted our motion.
The claim was dismissed.
And the plaintiff was ordered to pay costs.
But this story is important not only for lawyers.
It is especially important for real estate investors abroad.
Because this is exactly where the thin line runs between a safe deal and a risky one.
Many investors treat the term “trustee” as self-evident.
They hear there is a trustee in the deal, relax, and sign.
But they don't always understand what the trustee's role actually means,
and what the limits of his responsibility are.
The trustee is not responsible for the building being built on time,
for the developer finishing the project, or for the apartment being registered in the buyer's name.
He is responsible for one thing only:
making sure the money is held and transferred according to the contractual agreements - no less, and no more.
That is why every smart investor should make sure of three things before transferring money:
- Understand exactly what the trust agreement says.
Who holds the money, when it is transferred, and under what conditions.
- Check who the trustee is.
An experienced lawyer who knows the country where the deal takes place - not only Israeli law.
- Demand documentation for every stage.
Transfer confirmations, signed documents, official extracts - everything must be documented.
Because in the world of international investment,
the physical distance from the property creates a legal and regulatory distance as well.
What seems “obvious” in Israel
can turn into a minefield in another country - if you don't have the right guidance.
So yes, I was acquitted.
But this story reminded me
that an investor's security is measured not only by the developer, but also by the trustee who holds his money.
Before you sign a real estate deal abroad,
ask yourself one simple question:
Who is really safeguarding your money, and what does the agreement say about it.
Because in the end, in the world of international deals,
trust is not enough.
You also need to know exactly whom you are trusting.
Stories are based on real situations, with identifying details changed. Not legal advice.
Translated from the Hebrew original. עברית