Buying a House from a Court-Appointed Receiver
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Question
We have been looking for a house for several years. This week, we had the opportunity to purchase a house from a court-appointed receiver who received the sale rights following a family court ruling. The house finally suits our preferences, and we were happy to finally find something to our liking at a reasonable price, but it turns out it is being sold by a receiver. The house was inherited by three sisters who, according to the receiver, were in conflict with each other. They approached the court (it's unclear if all or just some of them), and therefore the family court appointed the receiver. Nevertheless, the receiver says there may be objections to the sale (he claims this may arise because some of the sisters might not be satisfied with the transaction amount, but according to him, "maybe not all of them wanted to sell the house initially, but now they all want to sell, but each has her own red line on the price"). The registry also shows a recent debt of several tens of thousands of shekels (60 times smaller than the property's value) of one of the sisters recorded on the house, but according to the receiver, the debt is unrelated, and he was appointed as receiver by the court due to the initial conflict between them. The receiver refuses to provide the sisters' phone numbers to talk to them and verify his claim. The price we want to offer is not much lower than a similar nearby house that was for sale a few months ago and which we ultimately did not buy for other reasons (disagreement on price). But according to the receiver, it is indeed quite low, and he claims they have already received a higher offer in the past and refused it, so it is quite possible they will object. Is it permissible to participate in the process and buy the house in light of this information?
Answer
Shalom and blessings
I forwarded the question to our teacher, the Gaon, Rabbi Avraham Fried, shlita, and he replied:
It is permissible to proceed with the purchase.
[It should be noted that there is no 'law of the land' in the Land of Israel].