Bava Batra 171 – Partial Debt Payments without Trust

One who repaid part of his debt will naturally want to ensure that the loan document will not be used against him to collect the debt twice. Unlike the previous case, they do not have a third party that the both trust. They cannot add to the loan document, because an unscrupulous lender can cut this off. Nor can they add to the top of the document, because witnesses must sign immediately below the last line.

Rabbi Yehudah says that they should write a new loan document for the remainder of the debt, but the borrower should not be forced to guard the receipt. Rabbi Yossi says that they should write a receipt, and the borrower should guard it, since people pay larger debts faster, and since “…a borrower is a servant to the lender.” The accepted law follows Rabbi Yossi.

Art: Signing of the preliminary Treaty of Paris