When Is It Permitted to Benefit the Lender: Difference between revisions

==Gifts or Favors from the Borrower==

===Before or After the Loan===

# All agree that it is forbidden if it is a large gift or if you specify it is because of the loan.<ref>Rama 160:6</ref> The determination of a large and small gift depends on the people and context. Any gift which people would understand is in gratitude<ref>Netivot Shalom 160:12 quotes the Machaneh Efraim 17 who says that if one gives a gift explicitly out of gratitude it is permitted, however, that is completely rejected by the Hagahot Ashri 5 and Rashba b"b 138b.</ref> for the loan is forbidden.<ref>Chelkat Binyamin 160:48</ref>

# Some say that everyone agrees if one’s intention is to give it because of the loan it is forbidden.<ref>Shach 160:10, Taz 160:3, Chelkat Binyamin 160:45</ref> However, there is an opinion that it is permitted if one doesn’t specify that it is for the loan.<ref>Chavot Daat 160:3 writes that even if one intends to give a gift in order to get a loan it is permitted as long as one doesn’t specify that it is for the loan. Pitchei Teshuva 160:7 cites this.</ref> For example, paying to be able to buy on credit is forbidden.<Ref>The Laws of Ribbis p. 87</ref>

===Mitzvot===

# It is forbidden to teach one’s lender or his son Torah during the duration of the loan unless he did so regularly before the loan.<ref>Rambam Malveh Vloveh 5:12, Shulchan Aruch 160:10. See Chavot Daat 160 who writes that according to the Rashba responsa 799 it should be permitted to teach him Torah since the lender didn't gain any financial gain. Nonetheless, Chavot Daat explains that we follow the Rambam who holds that any expenditure of money or time of the borrower for the sake of the lender is forbidden.</ref>

#It is forbidden to buy an honor in Shul for one's lender.<Ref>Shach 166:1</ref>

# If the lender initiates a greeting, the borrower can respond.<ref> The Laws of Ribbis 3:11 based on the language of Shulchan Aruch 160:11 </ref>

# It is forbidden for the lender to ask the borrower for any favor even something simple as alerting him when someone will come to a certain place.<ref>Mishna Bava Metsia 75b, Shulchan Aruch 160:12</ref>

# The borrower can’t go to the simcha (celebration) of the lender unless he would have done so anyway.<ref>Chelkat Binyamin 160:112</ref>

===Business Obligations Upon the Borrower===

#If the lender has a job it is forbidden to stipulate that the borrower use the lender for his services whenever he needs that type of service.<ref>Shulchan Aruch 160:23</ref>

# If there is no stipulation it is nonetheless forbidden for the borrower to do business with the lender to hire him specifically.<ref>Rama 160:23</ref> If the reason one is hiring him isn't because of the loan but because he has a better deal or the like it is permitted.<ref>Chelkat Binyamin 160:253</ref>

# If the lender is poor it is forbidden for the borrower to give him charity aside from repaying the loan. If he would have given him charity anyway if not for the loan it is permitted.<ref>Chelkat Binyamin 160:254</ref>

# It is forbidden for the borrower give a lender a loan during or after the original loan unless he regularly did so previously because doing so is considered a favor to the lender. This is only an issue if the second loan is larger or for a longer period of time, otherwise some poskim hold that it is permitted to give the lender such a loan.<ref>Chelkat Binyamin 160:90 based on the Graz writes that for rabbinic questions of interest we follow the opinion that it is permitted to give a loan to one's lender.</ref>

===If Lender Benefited from the Borrower's Property===

# If someone lent money he may not let the lender use his house for free. If he does that is considered rabbinic interest. If the house is up for rent then the lender needs to return the value of the rent. If the house isn't for rent and the owner wouldn't rent it, some say that it needs to be returned, while others holds there's no obligation to return it.<ref>Shulchan Aruch YD 166:1 writes that it doesn't need to be returned like the Ramban, but also cites the Rambam who says it is rabbinic interest and needs to be returned.</ref>

===Hiring the Lender for a Job===

# It is forbidden to lend money to someone and in the same situation be hired by him for a fare price because that appears to be interest. However, it is permitted if it is done in two settings. Alternatively, it is permitted if the loan is given as a complete gift even though the borrower is likely to give the gift back.<ref>Rama 166:3, Chelkat Binyamin 166:45, Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 177:13</ref>

===Right of First Refusal===

# If a person lent money to another Jew so that they could buy a piece of real estate and added a clause that granted the right of first refusal to the lender that would be forbidden as interest.<ref>Because the lender is stipulating that he has the right to buy back that piece of real estate if the seller chooses to sell it that is considered a benefit he is extracting from the borrower. According to the Nekudat Hakesef 160:23's first answer it is forbidden unless that original piece of real estate was a collateral for the loan. According to the second answer it could be permitted if it is a fair price for the real estate. Additionally, the Chavot Daat answers that it is forbidden to stipulate the right to buy a real estate unless it is sold retroactively from the time of the loan so that the loan reverts to a sale and the ownership was in the hands of the "lender" for the duration of the "loan". The only answer that would permit this deal is the second answer of the Shach. The poskim do not rely on the second answer of the Shach alone (Chelkat Binyamin 172:72, Brit Yehuda 11:25).</ref> This could be remedied by having the lender pay the borrower the standard brokerage fee for not having to pursue this deal.<ref>[https://businesshalacha.com/en/business-weekly/archive/78?selected=1 Business Halacha (Beshalach 5778)]</ref>

==Non-Financial Benefit==

# There’s no prohibition to do a non-financial favor after the loan was paid up. <Ref> Birkei Yosef Y”D 160:11, The Weekly Halachah Discussion (vol 2, pg 348), Malveh Hashem (vol 1, 8:30) </ref>

==Collateral Fields==

# It is forbidden for a lender to use the collateral that the borrower provided without certain conditions.<ref>Shulchan Aruch 164:4</ref> According to Ashkenazim it is permitted for a borrower to eat the fruit of the collateral field if either he pays for the fruit or there is a condition that the borrower can't kick him out of the field at any time. However, according to Sephardim it is always forbidden unless they use a system in which the fruit of the collateral serves as the pay of the loan and at a certain date the fruit are considered to have paid off the loan (''Mashkanta Dsura'').<ref>The opinion of Rashi (B"m 71a s.v. lo mesalkinan) is that it is permitted for a lender to eat the fruit except for where they kick out the lender at any time and he isn't pay for the fruit. Even then it is only rabbinic. Tosfot b"m 64b and Rosh b"m 5:34 agree. Rashba b"m 68a s.v. linyan holds that if he pays it is permitted while if he doesn't it is forbidden. The Rif b"m 38b and Rambam Malveh Vloveh 6:7 hold it is forbidden in all cases for the lender to eat the fruit. The only pay to permit a lender to benefit from the fruit is if they use the Mashkanta Dsura method. Under the Mashkanta Dsura the fruit of the collateral serve as the payment of the loan and after a certain amount of time the field is returned to the borrowed for nothing else in exchange. The Shulchan Aruch 172:1 seems to follow the opinion of the Rif, while the Rama follows the opinion of the Rabbenu Tam and also cites Rashba, however, he notes that each place should follow their minhag.

The Shach 172:1 clarifies that the Shulchan Aruch holds for the contingency of Mashkanta Dsura to be effective it needs to have the language of that the loan will be paid by a certain time and the field will be returned, which implies a sale as opposed to a loan. Additionally, it must be the case that the lender can't force the borrower to repay the loan at any time.</ref>  

# Mashkanta Dsura is equally effective for a house as it is for a field.<ref>Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 172:1, Shach 172:4</ref>

==Payments from a Third Party to Create a Loan==

# It is permitted to give someone money in order that they lend money to someone else.<ref>Gemara Bava Metsia 69b</ref> That is only permitted on condition that the giver isn’t reimbursed by the borrower. Furthermore, the borrower can’t tell the lender that the giver is giving on his behalf.<ref>Rosh b”m 5:47 holds that it is necessary to have 3 conditions in order for someone to give a gift to a lender. 1) the giver isn’t reimbursed by the borrower, 2) the borrower can’t tell the lender that he should lend him because of that gift, and 3) the borrower can’t initiate to have someone give a gift to the lender. The Ramban b”m 69b s.v. shari disagrees with condition 3 since ultimately the money isn’t given from the borrower it is permitted. Additionally, it is clear that the Ramban forbade asking an agent to give a gift for him. Ritva 69b s.v. amar accepts the Ramban that it is permitted to convince the giver to give the gift and he even allows the borrower to reimburse the giver since the giver gave it on his own. Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 160:13 accepts the Ramban but still insists that the first two conditions are necessary. Pitchei Teshuva 160:9 quotes the Mishna Lmelech Malveh 5:14 and Shaar Hamelech who think that according to the Ramban the second condition isn’t necessary. Chelkat Binyamin 160:128 quotes a dispute about this point and is lenient only in an extenuating circumstance as Shulchan Aruch implies that this second condition is absolutely necessary.</ref>  

# It is certainly forbidden to hire someone to get someone to lend you money and that hired agent pays the lender some of that money.<ref>Taz 160:7</ref>

===Gifts between the Borrower and a Guarantor===

==Payments from a Borrower to a Third Party==

#It doesn’t matter if the lender initiated this stipulation or the borrower initiated the stipulation and the lender agreed to lend on that condition.<Ref>Rama 160:14</ref>

===Payments to a Third Party to Create a Loan===

===Paying up a Loan of the Lender===

# It is rabbinically forbidden for the borrower to repay another loan of the lender if he does so besides returning the capital of the loan that he borrowed.<ref>Radvaz 3:1060, Chavot Daat 160:5. Radvaz points out that this is different that the laws of someone who one took a [[neder]] not to benefit since paying their loans isn't a benefit.</ref>

==Sources==

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[[Category:Ribbit]]