Bank and Lawyer Woes

After being on hold and being sent through the mother of all phone trees, I finally got someone to tell me what I needed to know at Mizrahi..  The  main problem is that EVERYONE goes on vacation during August because there is no such thing as summer camp in August in Israel.

Anyway, Vered was very helpful, but told me that I would have to continue my efforts with Shlomi because she's going on vacation tomorrow.

According to the bank we were missing three pieces of paper::

• A letter from the municipality saying that there are no outstanding tax debts on the property
• A letter from the chevra meshakenet - housing corporation that was up to date- ie since the last payment because there was some mortgage shuffling on the part of the sellers
• A letter of bitul mishkun - basically canceling their right to live there

Here's an explanation of a chevra meshakenet  I found online

http://www.jacksonadvocates.net/what-on-earth-is-a-housing-corporation-chevra-meshakenet/

What on Earth is a Housing Corporation (Chevra Meshakenet)?! 

Housing Corporation

A chevra meshakanet (a “housing corporation” or “settlement company”) is a large public building company that exists in Israel, which has constructed large numbers of dwelling units and temporarily registered them in an quasi (mini) land registry. This legal arrangement is prevalent in newly constructed or about to be constructed residential buildings. For example, an apartment may have been purchased “on paper” from a building contractor (kablan) or entrepreneur (yazam). In such a case, the builder will normally have obtained the rights to construct the apartment building from the Israel Land Administration (Minhal Me’karkei Yisrael or Minhal). Following the construction, the builder will need to register the building as a cooperative house or condominium building (bayit meshutaf), whereby each apartment will be registered, with its own sub-parcel (Tat Chelka) number, in the Land Registry (Lishkat Rishum Me’karkein or Tabu) as a long-term lease. When purchasing an apartment registered at a Chevra Meshakenet, in the interim period between winning the tender and registering each condominium owner’s rights in the Land Registry, it is important to insist that the seller’s attorney provide you with a Certificate of Rights (Ishur Zechuyot) from the builder/entrepreneur. An Ishur Zechuyot from the Israel Land Administration will need to be obtained in most cases too. The rights of the builder/entrepreneur and the nature of the building to be constructed will all need to be thoroughly examined before purchasing an apartment in this framework. Selling an apartment of this nature during this intermediate period also requires substantial documentation and verification of the rights involved particularly when mortgages are taken. - See more at: http://www.jacksonadvocates.net/what-on-earth-is-a-housing-corporation-chevra-meshakenet/#sthash.eAprKtrF.dpuf

Anyway, the seller was at work today, so she called the Ariel municipal offices - the benefits of living in a small town - and told them I was on my way down to collect the first letter.  Easy and done.  As for the other two, her lawyer should get them to her tonight and/or tomorrow morning after which I will send them to Mizrahi and stalk them until they do what I want.