August 12

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Aliyah and Utility Bills

Aliyah and Utility Bills

August 12, 2020

Arnona bill, Bills Registration, city taxes, electric bill, gas bill, Moving to Israel, water bill

Any relocation is stressful but you make Aliyah this is a big deal.

The first thing we want to tell you is welcome home, mazal tov, welcome to the promised land, and welcome to BALAGAN.

In this article I will tell you about the process that you will have to go through when you rent or buy a property in Israel and how to connect/transfer/register set up home utilities in Israel to your name in your new home.

The purpose of this article is to offer you to save yourself a lot of headaches and time trying to do these things yourself instead of using the service that we've built just for that.

Our service will allow you to register in your name all the utilities. The electricity bill the water bill the city taxes (Arnona) and if you're buying a property the gas bill as well.

Our service will cost you 299 shekels roughly $80 it will take up around 10 minutes of your time.

You will get personal service in, English Russian, French, Italian languages from a qualified team of agents and myself

My name is Alexander Landman I am a returning Israeli citizen a US real estate broker and the founder of Mazekal LTD ( מה זה קל בע"מ ) The startup that will make your relocation and Aliyah to Israel a little bit easier.

First a shot terms glossary:

Bills registration/transfer/trensfer - haavarat hesbonot - העברת חשבונות
Electricity Bill - Heshbon Hashmal - חשבון חשמל
Water bill - Heshbon Maim - חשבון מים
Gas Bill - Heshbon Gaz - חשבון גז
City Tax - Arnona - ארנונה
ID - Teudat Zehut - תעודת זהות
Lease agreement - Hoze Shirut - חוזה שכירות
Purchase agreement - Hoze Meher - חוזה מכר
Meter Reading - Kriat Mone - קריאת מונה
Leaving Tenent - Dayar Yotze - דייר יוצא
Entering tenant - Dayar Nihnas - דייר נכנס
Landlord - Baal Bayit - בעל בית
Bill Payee Change - Tofes Hahlafat Meshalmim - טופס החלפת משלמים

To register your utilities now click Here.

Click Here Now

or continue reading.

How all this started

I know you probably heard that Israel is the start-up Nation and the technology capital of the Middle East and in part this is true. Unfortunately, most of our startups and most of our technology is exported to English speaking countries with bigger markets.

Not take much of your time with my story but just so you can relate I'm a returning citizen and I came back to Israel about 7 years ago. Together with my wife, we rented an apartment in Gavatyim, a small City near Tel Aviv, and Ramat Gan.

I came back from the United States after many years of being a real estate broker, so I looked at my relocation both as a user as well as a professional.

Problem

What I found was a harsh reality as far as bureaucracy goes with everything that has to do with utility bills registration and transfer when renting or buying a property.

Not that this is the only bureaucracy problem in Israel but that`s for another article.

Like other stories similar to this one I decided to do something and I build Mazekal (in Hebrew: So Easy) together with a friend.

Solution

The goal of this startup what's to make moving and relocation easier and especially everything that has to do with connecting, transferring and registering utility bills like electricity water gas and city taxes also called Arnona.

Apparently we have hit a pain point not only with newcomers and non-Hebrew speakers but also with Israeli citizens.

Here we are after thousands of people we have helped both Israeli residents as well as newcomers from many different countries.

So how does this work?

If you buy or rent an apartment or a house or any kind of property in Israel, you will have to register the utility bills to your name.

In Israel, you don't disconnect a utility provider when you leave a home, you transfer the registration from the previous landlord or renter to the new renter or buyer.

The utility service is connected to the property and you only register as a new payee and a new contract holder.

Let's take an example

Electricity Bill Registration

You rented an apartment and you won't transfer the electricity bill to your name.

You would have to contact the electric company together with the person leaving the home. Both of you will have to be on the phone to make that call, during their opening hours.

After a long wait on the line you wil have to request the transfer of the bill from the leaving tenant to the new tenant.

Tried for yourself call 103 from your Israeli mobile phone.

You will have to provide the electric company a rental or purchase agreement the copies both parties ID`s as well as an official request-form called "Electric Bill Payee Change" or in Hebrew: טופס החלפת משלמים בחשבון חשמל

This will have to be done in Hebrew because in most cases the support rep of the electric company will not talk to you in English.

Another way you can do this is to download a PDF document from the electric company website Here

Print it, fill it out (in Hebrew) attach a lease or purchase agreement as well as copies of your ID`s called in Hebrew Teudat Zehut, and send it to them by email or Fax.

No later than 20 minutes later, you will have to call the electric company again and make sure they receive the documents. Again in Hebrew.

If you call in the next day or even after a couple of hours they will ask you to resend it again.

The Electric Company also has a digital way to do the transfer but again you need to know Hebrew and be familiar with specific terms requested on the web forum.

City Taxses - Arnona

Water Bill Registration

Gas Bill Registration

If you managed to complete this task, now you will have to register your city taxes (Arnona) and this is where the game becomes even more complicated because now you're dealing with the city hall.

Most cities in Israel will have you browse through their website and download a form in PDF format (In Hebrew) to your computer, print it, fill it out manually, scan it back to your computer and send it to them in most cases by fax and if you're lucky by email.

Needless to say it again, it's all has to be done in Hebrew.

You will have to repeat the same thing for the water utility bill and the gas utility bill.

Once you managed to complete all these steps, don`t forget to follow up with each provider to make sure the registration has been completed... remember BALAGAN.

I want to offer you an alternative route.

I know you have a lot to do and even more on your mind. Let me and my company take this of your plate.

Click Here Now

What other services Mazekal and Alexander Landman can help you with: