Question: Hi, I’m about to take out a contract to rent a house. The rental is being managed by a letting agent, but I believe that the owner of the… Read more »
Category: Interest on loans
Ribis on spoiled grape juice
Question: I forgot to turn on the Shabbos mode on the refrigerator and my neighbor gave us a new bottle of grape juice that turned out to be spoiled. If… Read more »
Late fee for rental
Question: B”H thank you so much for your quick reply. 1. If a person rents an apartment from a large real estate corporation that (I assume) has both Jews and… Read more »
Heter iska
Question: I am refinancing my house and will be signing a heter iska. Do I need to make sure to sign it before signing any of the other mortgage documents,… Read more »
Interest
Question: B”H Regarding paying a Jewish person for their services, I used an online payment service that said they would charge the seller about $3.20 in fees. I sent payment… Read more »
Heter iskah after closing before first payment
Question: I just closed a mortgage on a house and still have not made my first payment. Now I found out that it is owned by someone jewish. My broker says… Read more »
Using some else’s credit card
Question: If one has permission to use another person’s credit card. when one purchases something. is it viewed as the credit card owner purchasing and then the second person purchasing… Read more »
Paying one’s portion for a gift and rounding up – ribis?
Question: A while back I laid out money to get a gift for someone from a bunch of us. All paid but one, who remembered last week to pay his… Read more »
Investing as a silent partner and Ribbis
Question: If one invests money as a silent partner receiving a percentage of sales or a salary, with no intent of it being a loan, is a heter iska necessary… Read more »
Buying a car with installments
Question: If a car dealership in Israel gives you the choice to either buy a car for a certain price and pay immediately, or buy it for a higher price… Read more »
What kind of Heter Iskah do I need
Question: Shalom, My brother is taking a loan which he is passing on to me to help us put down a downpayment on a house. He will be paying monthly… Read more »
Is approximate paying back a ribis issue?
Question: My sister picked something up for me from the store that I asked for. When I asked her how much it was she said “it was around $2”. Can… Read more »
Ribis on credit card bonus
Question: If I spend a certain amount of money on my credit card within the first 3 months I get a cash bonus from the credit card company. if I let someone use my… Read more »
Are credit unions permitted
Question: I know there was a particula credit union recently for which there was an issue about obtaining a loan through. Are credit unions in general a problem or can… Read more »
loan document
Question: Are you able to forward a simple halachic loan document at your earliest convenience ? No interest Thank You Answer: My assumption is that you want what is called… Read more »
Credit Union
Question: Are you allowed to borrow from credit unions? If not, are all unions forbidden? Answer: Please see the following post which discusses your question. https://dinonline.org/2019/02/25/borrowing-money-from-a-credit-union/ Best wishes
Interest on Bituch Leumi child deposits
Question: A couple of years ago, in article https://dinonline.org/?p=42499, you said all savings loans in banks in Israel are ok with no problem of Ribbis. Is this still true today?… Read more »
Ribbis issue?
Question: Hi I went shopping for a friend. I paid for her things with my credit card. I accidentally had one of my own items on the receipt as well…. Read more »
Late Fee for Missed Rent – Avoiding Ribbis
Question: May I charge a one time late fee of $200 for rent being late? And at my own discretion decide if I want to forego any of that late… Read more »
Determining if a bank is Jewish owned regarding taking out a mortgage
Question: Is there a list of banks that are not Jewish owned whereby it would be permissible to obtain a mortgage through them without some sort of heter iska. If… Read more »
Mortgages from jewish banks
Question: I recently took a bank loan and then discovered that the bank is Jewish Owned There are however many none jewish shareholders I didn’t sign a heter iska -was… Read more »
Can one own bank shares in chuts laarets where a majority of customers are non jews
Question: Can one own bank shares in chuts laarets where a majority of customers are non-Jews Answer: The fact that most customers are non-Jews is not really the issue here,… Read more »
“Keep the change” when buying a product
Question: Is there a ribbis problem if someone pays extra money for a product? We are having a moving sale, and the amounts are agreed upon in shkalim. We are… Read more »
Ribbis on Auto Loans
Question: Hi, I’m looking to finance a vehicle. Would you know of lending companies for which there is no Ribbis issue? Thank You Answer: If the lending company are non-Jews… Read more »
Ribis through Pawning
Question: I have a store and i sell electronics. A woman who bought a computer half a year ago called and expressed her interest to sell it back because she… Read more »
Credit Cards, Ribbis, and Parents
Question: My (non-observant) dad let me run a charge through my credit card to meet a spending bonus. We do this from time to time and he pays the bill… Read more »
Tashlumim ribbit vs “Credit” in Israel
Question: It is my understanding (having talked with a vendor or two) that in a credit card transaction, the vendor can choose “regular (1 payment)”, “Tashlumim (multiple payments)” or “Credit”… Read more »
MCA BROKER
Question: Is it permissible to open a merchant cash advance brokerage – to be the “shadchan” between funders and merchants? Is it assur to send a jewish owned merchant cash… Read more »
Ribis
Question: A Board Member of a not-for profit is going to mortgage his personal property to enable the not for profit to make substantial capital improvements in their facilities. He… Read more »
If I lent someone earplugs and returned more than he took
Question: If I lent someone 2 earplugs and he buys me a box of earplugs as a present is that ribis? Answer: Earplugs are often lent to use and replace… Read more »
Is conditioning a loan on agreement on the borrower to a specific form of payment, which will benefit the lender considered ribbis?
Question: Dear Rabbi: Scenario: Reuven applied for a mortgage from his bank and was turned down because he did not have enough monthly income. He turned to his friend Shimon,… Read more »
Repaying a loan in a different currency
Question: A gutten, I live in England and lent a sum of shekolim to a Yid who was visiting Eretz Yisroel for a short while. We agreed that he would… Read more »
Paying with shekel a credit card fee charged in dollars
Question: A friend used my credit card to pay for several flights over three months time. The card was charged in dollars but she is paying me in Israeli shekel…. Read more »
Fee on Reimbursable Expenses
Question: We’re a service company, and we have reimbursable expenses on projects that we have to bill the client for. Most companies charge a fee for it, i.e. 5% (no… Read more »
Can one make a charity donation with a credit card and ask for change. Is this ribbis?
Question: Can one make a charity donation with a credit card and ask for change [bec he wants cash now] or is this ribbis [getting cash now paying more later]?… Read more »
Loan to be repaid from inheritance
Question: Hi, If a loan was written up between two siblings while their parents were alive with interest stipulated in the loan (they were unaware that it was Assur), with… Read more »
Buying vs. paying back (Ribis)
Question: I asked my sister to buy me some shoes from a store. Because she only has a credit card (and no debit card) I didn’t want her to pay… Read more »
Ribbis with Credit cards
Question: Weird situation, but basically there’s a guy that occasionally borrows money from credit cards. I find people to give their cards to be swiped. He also gives 2 percent… Read more »
Ribbis on a phone bill
Question: I live in Israel. I was late paying a phone bill and now they want me to pay an interest fee charge. Is there a problem with ribbis? Answer:… Read more »
Heter Iska for a Shul
Question: Shalom u-verakhah! If a shul borrows money with interest (as required by the IRS) from specific congregants, does the Shul need to write a heter iska? Also, why do… Read more »
Time limitations on a co-signed check
Question: How long is the statute of limitations on a co-signed check that the signer didn’t pay and he closed the account for a check of 2,000 shekels 30 years… Read more »
Filling up the tank of a borrowed car
Question: My mother in law lent me her car for the month I just filled up the entire tank before returning it. Is that somewhat assur because of ribbis? Thank… Read more »
co-signing on a loan
Question: If someone cosigned on my mortgage from an Israeli bank (that has a heter iska) do I also need a heter iska with the cosigner? If needed can this… Read more »
Inhereted a Shtar Ribis that on which one of the co lenders is a not religious
Question: Shalom, I am about to inherit a Shtar Ribis that on which one of the co lenders is a not religious. It has on it a lien on a… Read more »
Borrowing Money from a Credit Union
Question: Shalom, I am in a situation of getting a mortgage on my house and a broker brought me a offer from a Credit Union which has very good rates,… Read more »
borrowing and ribit
Question: in the past i have probably done ribit and borrowed something and not paid back and stole and not given back. Now that I learnt about the laws and… Read more »
Paying friend for favor done
Question: If my friend bought me a ticket to an event to pay him back later. it was about 37.50 and I paid him back 40$ is that a problem… Read more »
Paying someone who bought you pizza
Question: Is one allowed to pay someone as much as he wishes because his friend was nice to him or bought him a pizza. This is not a case of… Read more »
Inheritance and halacha
Question: I am about to receive an inheritance which I know was derived by my father from working on shabbos and charging usurious interest rates. Does Halacha allow me to… Read more »
Neighbor broke old popcorn machine and paid back a new one is that ribis?
Question: I lent a popcorn popper to my neighbor and it broke while they used it. They went and bought us a brand new one. Is it ribbis if we… Read more »