Judge cautions city on methods used to collect debt

The ruling means it will have to try other methods of persuasion first.

By TRANSLATEDMIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY
The city of Haifa is reconsidering its debt collection methods after a judge ruled recently that it must first exhaust all other legal means of collecting moneys owed before sending in the debt collectors to seize property, reports Yediot Haifa. Until now, the city has been quick to send in the collectors to late-paying residents, but the ruling means it will have to try other methods of persuasion first. According to the report, Judge Gideon Ginat decided that the city is being too rigorous in its debt collection methods, giving residents who owe the city money no opportunity to argue their cases, and forcing them to go to court after their possessions have been removed to try to win them back. "A local authority does not have the right to use these collection methods before it has exhausted other, ordinary legal procedures," the judge said. The ruling was presented to the city council by councillor Shlomo Gilboa, and it decided to discuss changing its collection policies as a result.