Ribbis: Advance payment for summer rental, and vacation for an Avail

Hi, we are planning to rent a holiday flat for the summer, and they are asking us to pay 10 percent upfront. Is that considered ribbis (interest), or is it allowed? Also unfortunately I am in the year of aveilut (for my Dad). Is there a problem going on vacation?

Thank you for your question.

I would first like to explain what the issue could be when someone pays rent in advance, and how this might be connected to the prohibition of ribis .

Ribis de’oraita is that one may not lend out money with interest, as it is written:

ויקרא פרק כה, לה-לו

(לה) וְכִי יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ וּמָטָה יָדוֹ עִמָּךְ וְהֶחֱזַקְתָּ בּוֹ גֵּר וְתוֹשָׁב וָחַי עִמָּךְ: (לו) אַל תִּקַּח מֵאִתּוֹ נֶשֶׁךְ וְתַרְבִּית וְיָרֵאתָ מֵאֱלֹהֶיךָ וְחֵי אָחִיךָ עִמָּךְ

If your brother becomes poor and can’t manage on his own, help him out. ….Don’t take interest or extra payment from him.

However, it is a rabbinic decree that one may not derive any benefit from the recipient in exchange for money paid upfront, even if it is structured as a sale or a rental, and not necessarily as a loan.

So, in your case, one could ask, what benefit are you receiving by paying in advance?

This is a dispute among the poskim since by paying in advance, the owner will keep the original price that was agreed upon, even if, as the summer period approaches, rental prices may rise. Since you paid in advance, he will refrain from raising the price for you, and this could be considered as him doing you a favor in exchange for receiving the money early.
However, lehalacha , one may be lenient in this case.

However, Rabbi Akiva Eiger (Bava Metzia 72b) writes that one may only be lenient in a case where the property is currently vacant, and the owner does not truly benefit from the early payment, since he could have allowed the renter to begin renting on the day the payment was made, but the renter chose to delay the start date.
But in your case, these flats are generally booked throughout the summer, so the owner would not have been able to rent it to you at the time of payment. Therefore, it is considered an advance payment, and it would be prohibited.

HaGaon Harav Fried, shlit”a, writes that one may pay up to 10 percent of the rent in advance. As we will see, the entire prohibition of ribis applies when one pays in advance, since payment is generally made at the time of usage. By paying early, it is considered as doing a favor for the owner, and in return, he will keep the price lower, which could be problematic. However, paying up to 10 percent is not considered an actual payment, but rather a type of deposit to show sincerity and commitment. This is the common business practice, and therefore, paying 10 percent is not regarded as early payment or a favor, and is thus permitted.

Also, in a case, for example, one who is planning to go to a hotel at the end of the week, so in this case if he is asked to give more than 10 percent it would be permitted. This is because it is not common for prices to change within such a short period.

An Avel Going on Holiday During the 12 Months of Aveilut:
HaGaon Harav Fried, shlit”a, writes that during the year of aveilut , an avel may go on holiday with close family members, but not with extended family or friends. However, if declining to join, they pressure him to join, then it would be permitted.

The source for this halacha is in the Shulchan Aruch , Yoreh De’ah , Laws of Mourning, Siman 380, Se’if 25.

שולחן ערוך יורה דעה הלכות אבילות סימן שפ

“באביו ואמו, עד שיגערו בו חביריו ויאמרו: לך עמנו.”

….But for one’s father or mother, he shouldn’t go even after 30 days—unless his friends pressure him and say, "Come with us!"

May you be zocheh to have only simchos and nachas, in good health and happiness

Shimusha Ve'limudah