May I remind a borrower that it is time to repay the debt according to our arrangement?

Hello,

If the time for repayment of the loan has arrived, you may ask the borrower for the money, and only when it is clear to you that he has no ability to repay the loan does the Torah say (Exodus 22:24), "lo tihyeh lo kinosheh." However, where there is doubt whether he is able to repay, you may ask him.

It should also be noted that if the borrower has assets that are fit for sale - in a way that after their sale he will still have a place to live and the ability to live in minimal conditions in accordance with the laws of "arranging for a debtor," as explained in Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat (siman 97, seif 23) - then in such a case it is permitted to ask him, even though it is known that he has no cash in hand.

Sources: The Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat (siman 97, seif 2) writes that it is forbidden to press a borrower to pay when one knows that he does not have the money, and it is even forbidden to show oneself to him, because he is ashamed when he sees the lender and lacks the means to pay. End quote. It appears that the prohibition applies only when the lender knows for certain that the borrower has no money to repay; however, if there is doubt, there is no prohibition.

See also Minchat Chinuch (mitzvah 67, os 1), who initially wrote that if the lender is uncertain whether he has the money, it is also forbidden to demand payment out of doubt, as with any Torah doubt ruled stringently. He then wrote that perhaps the Torah did not forbid it at all when one does not know, because no one knows the hidden assets of his fellow, and therefore in most cases he will not demand it; consequently, there is no prohibition at all except when one knows that he does not have it. This is also stated plainly in Kessef HaKodashim on Choshen Mishpat (there), that there is no concern unless one knows for certain that he does not have it. So too wrote Sefer Shaarei Halacha uMinaag (Choshen Mishpat, p. 175). This also appears to be the view of Shevet HaLevi, part 10 (siman 267) and part 11 (siman 317). So too wrote Sefer Derech Sichah, part 1 (p. 302), in the name of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, zt"l. (And in the words of Pele Yoetz there appears to be a contradiction on this point, since under the entry Dibbur he wrote that it is forbidden to demand a debt from someone "when he knows about him" that he has nothing to repay, which implies that if there is doubt whether he has it, it is permitted to demand it; however, later under the entry Chov he wrote that one must beware of being a creditor to his fellow "until the matter is clear to him" that he has money, which implies that even if there is doubt whether he has it, it is forbidden to demand payment.)

As for what was written, that if the borrower has something of monetary value, etc., this is explained in Shulchan Aruch HaRav (Laws of Lending, seif 13), that if the borrower has more than the amount of a "siddur" for a debtor, it is permitted to demand payment from him (and the amount of the siddur for a debtor is explained in Shulchan Aruch, siman 97, seif 23). This is also stated explicitly in Kessef HaKodashim there. So too wrote Pele Yoetz (entry Chov, s.v. UleIdach), that if he has real estate or movable property of monetary value with which he can repay his debt, it is permitted to press him. This is also written in Sefer Neshekh Kessef (p. 34, seif 4 and note 13) in the name of Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, zt"l, and in Sefer Derech Sichah, part 1 (there) in the name of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, zt"l.

With blessings,

Hillel Meirs