THE DILEMMA
“I run a gemach. One of the rules of the gemach is that if someone took a loan from us and paid back late, they cannot get a loan again. So here’s the story. A few months ago, Yossi needed a loan to pay for his daugh- ter’s chasunah, but he paid it back late. Now, Yossi needs to consolidate his credit card bills, so he approached our gemach for a new loan. The rules are the rules— what could I do? I had to refuse. But I was feeling very bad about it, so I came up with a solution, and told Yossi: ‘Usually, we need two guar- antors for the loan. If you bring four guarantors, I’ll give it to you.’ Yossi brought four people who agreed to pay back the loan if he didn’t. Now I am wondering if I should tell them that Yossi paid back the first loan late?”
Chaim, from the gemach
THE HALACHA
It’s loshon hora to say that someone paid late. Pay- ing late doesn’t make Yossi a credit risk. Many people pay their loans or bills late. Since the guarantors might back out if Chaim informs them, Chaim would be caus- ing Yossi an unjustified loss, and they shouldn’t be told. However, if Yossi defaulted on even part of the old loan, the guarantors should be warned.
U FARATZTA
RABBI SHALOM BER MUNITZ
CHOFETZ CHAIM HERITAGE FOUNDATION
