The complainant, a resident of the North, filed an urgent complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman after the local council under whose jurisdiction she had previously resided placed a lien for the sum of some NIS 20,000 on her bank account because of a debt, even though she was unaware of the debt and no demands for payment of the debt or warnings had been sent to her. The local council subsequently exercised the lien.
The Office of the Ombudsman's investigation revealed that the debt in question related to the municipal tax debts of the complainant's former husband. It also transpired that the lien was placed despite the fact that the complainant was not registered as holder of the properties on which the municipal tax was imposed and had not been charged municipal tax for them; furthermore, demands for payment and warnings had been sent at the relevant times to her former husband, not to her.
Following the investigation, the local council notified the Office of the removal of the lien, but further investigation revealed that the lien had been exercised, and the Office of the Ombudsman stood by the complainant until the money had been paid back into her account.
The local council notified the Office of the Ombudsman that it would conduct an in-depth examination of the matter to prevent the reoccurrence of similar cases.