Line of Credit

Question

A line of credit is not one’s own money. It is money that belongs to a bank that they are willing to lend out.

So if someone owes money to another party and cannot afford to pay it out of one’s own pocket, but have a line of credit that would cover it, are they required by Halacha to use their line of credit to pay off the debt, which might lead to them having to pay interest on the credit card payment?

To do so is essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul.

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Jewish Law dictates that a person is not obligated to borrow money in order to pay back a loan. However, the person is obligated to make every effort in his private life to cut back on his expenditure so that they can pay back the money that they owe. So, for example, if they have a second car they might need to sell it so that they can begin to pay back their debt.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team