New plan aims to help Ethiopian immigrants in buying homes

The Immigrant Absorption Ministry has drafted a plan to help immigrants from Ethiopia to navigate the local real estate market and ensure that they are not exploited.

"The exploitation of Ethiopian immigrants must end," Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim said Monday, decrying the use of deceptive practices to sell apartments to people in the community.

The ministry has frozen all new mortgages for immigrants until the new plan is instituted. Under the program:

The ministry will hold workshops for all immigrants, in their own languages, to explain the terms and conditions of the mortgages as well as how to choose a suitable residential comnunity.

No residential purchase will be approved without the notarized personal details of the real estate agent involved.

The purchasers must examine the property and the neighborhood during daylight hours.

Two property assessors will estimate the value of the property as well as examine the plumbing, check for damp and estimate the cost of any necessary repairs. NIS 300,000 is to be alloted by the ministry for assessments immediately.

The Israel Bar Association will offer legal assistance with the transaction for a minimal fee.

In the event of deceptive practices, the ministry will file a police complaint against the offending real estate agents.

The ministry is also working to increase the mortgage available to Ethiopian immigrants (NIS 300,000 at present) by 25 percent and to make improvements to neighborhoods where more than 10 percent of residents are from Ethiopia.

The plan is part of a broader program to strengthen Israel's new immigrant community.

Officials at the Yedid civil rights group welcomed the initiative but said the ministry must help victims of real estate fraud in addition to preventing such cases in the future.