3,788. Was It a Loan or a Charge Account?

Hilchos Shemittah v’Yoveil 9:25

Let’s say that the lender produces a prozbul, but the borrower claims that the loan was extended after that prozbul was written. If the lender replies that the loan was given before the prozbul was written, he is believed. This is because he could have claimed that he had a prozbul and lost it, a claim that would have been accepted without knowing the date on the document.

Hilchos Shemittah v’Yoveil 9:26

Let’s say that the defendant in the court case says that the debt was a loan (which was canceled by shemittah) and the plaintiff says no, it was a charge account from his store, which is not canceled by the shemittah. In such a case, the plaintiff is believed. This is because he could have claimed that it was a loan, for which he had a prozbul that was lost. We are lenient in the aforementioned cases because once the Sages enacted the rule of prozbul, we assume that a person won’t ignore something permitted in favor of doing something prohibited.