Two checks of 400 shekels turned into a debt of 13 thousand - until the registrar intervened
The debtor claimed that the debt was paid back in 2003 and that the creditor had been "sleeping on their rights" for almost a decade before initiating the procedure. The registrar at the Haifa Execution Office rejected the repayment claim but significantly reduced the interest on arrears in both cases.
Two identical checks, each for a sum of only 400 shekels, drawn in 2002 and 2003, formed the basis of two execution cases opened against a debtor in Haifa. However, nearly nine years passed between the drawing of the checks and the actual opening of the cases. By 2011, when the cases were initiated, the debt had grown to a total balance of over 13,000 shekels.
Now, about 15 years later, the Haifa Execution Registrar, Issam Khayek, issued a decision that significantly reduced the debt, though not for the reasons the debtor had requested. The 59-year-old debtor, who was 44 when the cases were opened, had requested a full dismissal, arguing that the proceedings were initiated in bad faith. He claimed that the clearing house stamp on the checks bore a date much later than the opening of the cases, proving that the creditor had waited years before initiating collection. Furthermore, he argued the checks were originally meant for a private software contractor and were endorsed to the creditor long after the statute of limitations had passed, insisting he had paid the debt in full back in 2003.
The creditor countered that legal warnings had been delivered in 2011 without objection and that subsequent partial payments indicated an admission of the debt.
The registrar rejected the repayment claim, noting that the burden of proof lies with the debtor, who failed to provide documentation. However, the registrar ruled in favor of the debtor regarding interest accumulation. Upon reviewing the creditor's conduct, the registrar found that little action had been taken since the cases were opened—only two financial attachment procedures in 2016 and 2019, and a vehicle attachment attempt in 2025–2026.
The registrar established that an execution file cannot serve as a 'savings plan' for a creditor who waits indefinitely without taking action while accumulating interest. Relying on Amendment 75 to the Execution Law, which took effect in January 2025 and expanded registrar authority, he ordered a reduction in arrears interest.
As a result, the debt balance in each case was reduced from 6,592 shekels to 3,300 shekels, bringing the total debt down from approximately 13,184 shekels to about 6,600 shekels. This decision illustrates a growing trend in execution offices: registrars are increasingly willing to intervene in arrears interest when a creditor has failed to act regularly over the years.
