Hi,
Q. My wife inherited an apartment in Beit Shemesh when her father was niftar. We rented out the apartment a few months ago and never received any rent from the tenants. My wife went to England to help her mother move and while there she emailed the tenants asking what's happening with the rent. They said they sent the money to the account we sent them. The account was somewhere in Wisconsin, I believe, and the name was Mary. It turned out their email was hacked into and whoever read the emails sent emails from their account, not ours, asking for the money right away. He said it didn't sound like my wife talking but decided to send the money anyway to the account in Wisconsin, not Toronto. He was taken advantage of in a scam and doesn't want to pay us the first 2 month's rent.
I'm asking if halachikally they still have to pay us, since it was by his negligence and not calling us when he thought something sounded fishy with the emails and paid anyway.
Thanks so much.
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit”a opinion is that hypothetically you are correct, and the renter still owes you the rent. However, the Rov maintains in principle that it is incorrect to adjudicate monetary cases when only one opinion is presented, as the renter may offer a totally different scenario. He recommends applying to a Beis Din, who would hear both sides.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a
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