Yes. An Israeli bank can force the sale of a mortgaged home, but for a home an individual lives in it must usually first wait 6 months from the first missed instalment, and on an instalment loan its request starts with the missed payments only, not the whole loan. The sale is then ordered and supervised by the Registrar of the Execution Office (Hotza’a LaPoal, הוצאה לפועל), either through the office’s own auction or through a receiver the Registrar appoints. The rules below come from the Execution Law, 5727-1967 and the Execution Regulations, 5740-1979, as worded when we checked them on 29 October 2026.
The process is often called kinus nechasim (כינוס נכסים), but that term means receivership, and receivership is only one of the two ways a mortgaged home can be sold. The law calls the process enforcing a mortgage (bitzua mashkanta, ביצוע משכנתה).
The Trigger: Defaulting on the Mortgage
One missed payment does not start a foreclosure. For a mortgage on an apartment that is an individual’s home, or a pledge (mashkon, משכון) on rights in one, which is how many homes not yet registered in the Land Registry are secured, the bank can file at the Execution Office only after 6 months from the first unpaid instalment, and only if that instalment is still unpaid when the period ends. If the loan has one repayment date instead of instalments, the period runs from that date.
For an instalment loan, the request is filed first for the arrears (ha-chov she-be-pigur, החוב שבפיגור): the instalments not paid on their due dates. It must also state the full loan balance. If the arrears and the costs added to them are paid in time, the Registrar puts the enforcement on hold. If they are not, the bank is entitled to take the whole loan balance out of the sale price of the home.
The bank can skip the waiting period and enforce the whole loan at once when:
- the borrower has left or is about to leave Israel for a long period without paying (the law presumes this after more than 3 months abroad without paying the instalments due);
- the borrower defrauded, or intends to defraud, creditors;
- the borrower, alone or jointly with a family member living with them, owns another apartment that can be lived in;
- a receiver was appointed to the home, a receivership order covers all the borrower’s assets, or insolvency proceedings were opened against the borrower;
- on an instalment loan, the unpaid instalments plus default interest come to more than 10% of the full outstanding loan balance.
If you are the borrower and already behind, our guide to being behind on your mortgage in Israel walks through each deadline and option in order, with worked examples.
The Legal Process
- The bank opens a mortgage file. It files a request to enforce the mortgage deed at the Execution Office, with the deed, a Land Registry extract and an affidavit verifying the debt.
- The borrower receives a warning. It gives 20 days from service (or a shorter period the Registrar sets for special reasons) to pay what is owed, or steps to sell the home will follow. The Registrar can allow earlier steps if the circumstances justify it.
- The borrower can offer to sell the home. Within 20 days of service, the borrower may tell the Registrar they want to sell the home themselves to repay the full loan. The Registrar then stays the enforcement for 90 days from the notice, as long as repayment of the full loan from the sale price is secured as the Registrar directs. The sale needs the Registrar’s approval.
- The Registrar orders a sale or appoints a receiver. If the warning deadline passes without payment, the Registrar orders the sale of the mortgaged home; the bank does not need to file a separate request. The Registrar may instead appoint a receiver (kones nechasim, כונס נכסים) for the home where that helps enforcement. The receiver takes charge of the home and sells it as the Registrar directs.
- A last window to catch up. Until 90 days after a receiver is appointed for the home, the borrower can pay the arrears plus the fees, lawyer’s fees, expenses, interest and linkage added to them, and the Registrar must then stay the enforcement. Alternatively the borrower can pay half and secure, to the Registrar’s satisfaction, that the rest will be paid 6 months after that payment. If neither happens, the bank may take the whole loan balance out of the sale price.
The family’s housing is protected at the eviction stage. Before ordering the sale and eviction of a home the borrower lives in, the Registrar must invite both sides to a hearing, and the invitation must say the borrower may ask to pause the decision to hire a lawyer or get Legal Aid representation if eligible. The Registrar may not order the sale and the eviction of the borrower and the family living with them unless it is shown that they will have a reasonable place to live, can afford one, or have been given an alternative arrangement (sidur chalof, סידור חלוף), such as another apartment or compensation. Its value is treated as an enforcement expense and added to the debt in the file.
A mortgage deed can replace that protection with a narrower one, but only if the deed says so explicitly and its meaning was explained to the borrower in clear language they understood. The arrangement is then enough money to rent a suitable home in the area for up to 18 months, which the Registrar can extend in special circumstances. This narrower clause does not apply to property under tenant-protection law. If your deed has a clause like this, have a lawyer check whether it meets those conditions.
The Sale Process
Properties sold to repay a mortgage are not sold like typical homes. The sale is advertised and competitive, and the Registrar supervises it. The rules differ slightly between a sale run by the Execution Office and one run by a receiver, so check which one a listing is before you bid.
| Step | Execution Office sale | Receiver’s sale |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation | A licensed appraiser (shamai) values the home; the report goes to the bank and the borrower, with a copy to the Registrar | The receiver has the home appraised, and an up-to-date appraiser’s report goes to the Registrar with the request to approve the sale if it was not filed earlier |
| Advertisement | At least 15 days after the report is sent, in Reshumot (the official gazette), a daily newspaper or the office’s notice board, as the Registrar directs | The receiver advertises the bidding after the home has been vacated |
| Offers | In writing within 15 days of the advertisement, unless the Registrar sets a longer period | Within the number of days the Registrar sets in the appointment order or under the law |
| Deposit | At least 10% of the price offered; a mortgagee or the creditor is exempt | A cheque payable to the receiver for 10% of the offer; losing bidders get it back at once |
| Bidding | A public auction among the bidders; each must first top up the deposit to 10% of the highest written offer | A bidding round among the bidders; phone bidding or selling through a broker only with the Registrar’s prior approval |
| Paying and approval | The declared buyer pays the balance within 7 days of the demand or loses the deposit, then gets a confirmation used to register the home in the Land Registry | The Registrar decides the receiver’s request to approve the sale, which includes the advertisement, the appraisal and the bidding record |
Source: Execution Regulations, 5740-1979, regulations 65 to 69 and 101, and the Enforcement and Collection Authority receivership procedure of 16 March 2021, checked 29 Oct 2026.
If no offer arrives on time, or only a low one, or the Registrar sees no reasonable chance of collecting another way, the Registrar can order the home used to repay the debt instead: by handing over possession, or by registering a lease or a mortgage on it.
The sale price goes toward the debt in the file, which includes the enforcement costs and, in a receivership, the receiver’s fees. In an Execution Office auction, the money reaches the bank only after it files an updated Land Registry extract. In a receivership, any money left over is divided as the Registrar directs, among the creditors where there are others, so a borrower should not count on getting the balance back automatically.
Buying a property in a forced sale can sometimes be an opportunity to purchase below market price, but it is a legal process with fixed deadlines and a deposit you lose if you do not pay the balance on time. Read the Land Registry extract (nesach tabu) for other liens and notes, and work with an Israeli real estate lawyer experienced in this type of transaction. If you will need a loan to buy, start with our guide to Israeli mortgages in English, because the balance is due within days of winning.
In an Execution Office auction, regulation 68 of the Execution Regulations, as consolidated with amendments to 1 October 2024, requires the declared buyer to pay the balance within 7 days of service of the demand, or within a longer period the Registrar sets. The deposit is forfeited if the buyer withdraws or does not pay within that period. If the Registrar has not approved the sale within 30 days of the auction, a bidder may take the deposit back. Regulations can be amended, so confirm the current text before bidding.
Sources: Execution Law, 5727-1967, sections 37, 38, 53 and 81B1, and the Execution Regulations, 5740-1979 (consolidated Hebrew texts); Enforcement and Collection Authority receivership procedure and 2025 annual report. Checked 29 Oct 2026. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm with a licensed professional.
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