Question:
I sold my house in 2021. In order to be able to have a new house before the closing, I took a equity loan on the home. We were supposed to close on June. I took the loan, purchased a new home in May. Then, the buyer was not ready to close. In the meantime we moved into the new home. I wanted to cancel my deal with the new buyer. He wanted to close later, in October. I refused because I now owned 2 homes. The old home had taxes and I was paying interest on the home equity loan. The buyer said he would cover all my expenses. So we waited until October. He paid me the agreed price for the home plus my expenses which included he interest I paid on the home equity loan for that period of time. Did that deal violate ribis? If so, am I required to repay the ribis to the buyer?
Answer:
Hello,
If it is ribbis or not depends on the nature of the agreement between the two of you. If the buyer paid you some money, and technically got ownership of the house, and then in order to be able to pay later, gave you extra money, then it would be ribbis. However, if in the contract it says that the house is being sold in October, and the price for the house is the asking price, plus the interest charges that you are getting from the bank for those months, then it is not ribbis as there was no loan, and it remains the price of the house.
Best wishes
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