Before Rosh Hashana, the shul sent out a message to its congregants regarding yearly membership dues and purchase of seats for the Yamim Noraim.
“In addition,” the message continued, “we our notifying our congregants that the fee for using the simcha hall is rising from $600 to $800 due to greater expenses of air conditioning and cleaning.”
When Mrs. Bloch saw the message, she said to her husband: “We already booked the simcha hall for Nosson’s bar mitzvah in the summer. We even paid a $100 deposit to reserve the hall. Can they raise the price now?”
“That’s an interesting question,” replied Mr. Bloch. “I suppose that if we already rented the hall, they cannot raise the price.”
“I hope so,” said Mrs. Bloch. “It doesn’t seem fair to me to suddenly raise the price. There was a nicer hall nearby that we could use, which charges $800. If our price rises, maybe I would go with that hall, but then we would lose the $100, which was a non-refundable deposit.”
“Was there any mention of a possible price increase?” asked Mr. Bloch.
“No,” answered Mrs. Bloch. “The issue didn’t come up at all.”
“I’ll have to speak with the treasurer, then,” said Mr. Bloch.
After Rosh Hashana, Mr. Bloch approached the treasurer. “We already reserved the simcha hall for a bar mitzvah in the summer, but saw that the fee has been raised.”
“Indeed,” replied the treasurer. “The expenses are higher than last year, so we had to raise the fee. If the bar mitzvah is in the summer, I guess it will be according to the new rate.”
“That does not seem right to me,” said Mr. Bloch.
The two approached Rabbi Dayan and asked:
“Which rate must the Blochs pay?”
“Rental of real estate, like the purchase of real estate, can be consummated through kessef, shtar, or chazaka. Even a partial payment of the rental fee is considered kinyan kessef, and a signed rental contract would be valid as shtar or situmta (common commercial practice) (C.M. 195:9, 315:1).
The Gemara (Kiddushin 26a) teaches that in places where it is customary to write a shtar, kessef alone does not acquire, unless stipulated so, since the buyer does not feel secure until the shtar is written (C.M. 190:7).
Nonetheless, Beis Yosef and Rema rule that for a rental, kessef alone suffices, since it is less common to draft a shtar for a rental (Rema 195:9; Sma 195:20; see Pischei Choshen, Sechirus 4:[3]).
Therefore, in this case, once the rental is consummated with a rental contract or partial payment, the shul cannot charge more than the agreed price, even if the price rises. Conversely, the Blochs can cancel only in accordance with the cancellation policy of the rental contract.
There is no issue of ribbis in locking in the rental price through prepayment, certainly here where the price uncrease was not known when paying (see Y.D. 176:6; Taz and Nekudos Hakesef 176:7; Bris Yehuda 26:1[2], 26:4[13]).
One could possibly argue, though, that in shuls where the reservation is done informally, without a written rental agreement, this does not yet constitute a binding rental of the hall, but merely a note of the date in the shul calendar, even if the person pays a non-refundable deposit. This may be supported by the fact that the person can usually cancel at will (losing the deposit), unlike a tenant who rented an apartment for a later date, who cannot cancel at will. If so, perhaps the new rate would apply.”
“However, this approach seems less cogent,” concluded Rabbi Dayan. “Regardless, it would seem untrustworthy (mechusar amana) for the shul to change the price in the middle” (C.M. 204:7,11; see Ketzos 204:7).
Verdict: When the rental of the simcha hall is formalized in a written contract, the agreed terms are binding, even if the price changes thereafter. Similarly, a partial payment would presumably serve as kinyan kessef to confirm the rental. Regardless, changing the price in the middle would be considered untrustworthy (mechusar amana).
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This article is intended for learning purposes and cannot be used for final halachic decision. There are also issues of dina d’malchusa to consider in actual cases.
