Renting an apartment to foreign workers
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Question
Renting an apartment to foreign workers despite a neighbor’s objection
We own an apartment in a building of 4 tenants in Rechasim. The current neighbors are: a family in severe distress, a family with children who do not observe the mitzvot, and a family of bnei Torah. In a nearby entrance there is also another tenant who is not observant. Likewise, in the neighboring buildings, in each building there are several such tenants.
We ourselves are renting in another place and need the rent from this apartment in order to cover our own housing costs. After extensive advertising, no tenants were found from our sector (avrechim or regular families), and the only practical offers are from companies that want to house foreign workers (Chinese or Indian) in the apartment.
The neighbor’s (the ben Torah’s) claims:
1. Harm to the spirit of the place – according to him, renting the apartment to workers will damage the spiritual character of the building and the area.
2. Decrease in value – he fears that the presence of workers will reduce the value of his apartment if he wishes to sell it.
Our claims:
1. Financial loss – not renting out the apartment causes us direct and ongoing monetary damage.
2. Existing situation – in any case, the spiritual level of the building and the surroundings is not high (as described above).
The questions:
a. From the halachic point of view, does the neighbor have the right to prevent us from renting the apartment to foreign workers under these circumstances?
b. Are we obligated to refrain from such a rental because of the principle of “ve’asita hayashar ve’hatov” ("ועשית הישר והטוב" — “and you shall do what is right and good”), even when this causes us significant financial loss?
We own an apartment in a building of 4 tenants in Rechasim. The current neighbors are: a family in severe distress, a family with children who do not observe the mitzvot, and a family of bnei Torah. In a nearby entrance there is also another tenant who is not observant. Likewise, in the neighboring buildings, in each building there are several such tenants.
We ourselves are renting in another place and need the rent from this apartment in order to cover our own housing costs. After extensive advertising, no tenants were found from our sector (avrechim or regular families), and the only practical offers are from companies that want to house foreign workers (Chinese or Indian) in the apartment.
The neighbor’s (the ben Torah’s) claims:
1. Harm to the spirit of the place – according to him, renting the apartment to workers will damage the spiritual character of the building and the area.
2. Decrease in value – he fears that the presence of workers will reduce the value of his apartment if he wishes to sell it.
Our claims:
1. Financial loss – not renting out the apartment causes us direct and ongoing monetary damage.
2. Existing situation – in any case, the spiritual level of the building and the surroundings is not high (as described above).
The questions:
a. From the halachic point of view, does the neighbor have the right to prevent us from renting the apartment to foreign workers under these circumstances?
b. Are we obligated to refrain from such a rental because of the principle of “ve’asita hayashar ve’hatov” ("ועשית הישר והטוב" — “and you shall do what is right and good”), even when this causes us significant financial loss?
Answer
Shalom u’vracha.
It is not possible to answer this question without being familiar with the local situation.
Please consult a local rabbi who knows the common practice in that place and the spiritual character of the building.
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