Google Street View thwarts land grab in Herzliya

A real estate inspector in Netanya ordered a family from Herzliya to vacate the backyard of an apartment building, which they had effectively turned into private property.

We are talking about a two-story building with eight apartments on Bar Kochba Street in the Herzliya quarter of Neve Israel. According to the lawsuit, the family that owns one of the apartments turned the shared backyard into private territory by surrounding it with a wall, installing a padlocked entrance, artificial turf, an awning, a gas grill and an outdoor refrigerator. Surveillance cameras and floodlights were placed on the external wall of the house.

The neighbor on the second floor did not accept this and filed a lawsuit with the inspector to vacate the occupied territory.

The family that seized the plot claimed that allegedly, about 45 years ago, the owners of the apartments on the top floor, by agreement, divided the courtyards among themselves, and she got the back yard, and the plaintiff, who bought the apartment only in 1987, got a smaller yard.

However, this theory was refuted by Google Street View footage taken in 2011, which showed a largely open courtyard with short grass, without any hint of a section, tiles, artificial turf or equipment.

Taken together with the testimony of neighbors and other data presented by the plaintiff, this was enough to oblige the defendant family to vacate the yard at their own expense, dismantle the artificial lawn and tiles, demolish the wall surrounding the site, returning the old low fence in its place, remove the gates, floodlights and all installed cameras within 60 days.