Advice for getting rid of bank fees
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Question
"אל תמנע טובה מבעליו" ("Do not withhold good from its owner")
My brother‑in‑law has a bank account with fees, so I advised him to threaten his bank that he wants to move the account to another bank so that they will give him free banking (no fees).
Now that I have learned (in the Gemara, Bava Metzia 76a, and this is also ruled in the Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 306:3) about an agent who arranged a lower price with workers than the homeowner instructed him, that the workers have a grievance against him based on the principle of "אל תמנע טובה מבעליו" ("Do not withhold good from its owner"), I have become nervous: perhaps the manager of my brother‑in‑law’s bank will likewise have a grievance against me, that I prevented him from receiving payment that people wanted to pay him?
Thank you very much
My brother‑in‑law has a bank account with fees, so I advised him to threaten his bank that he wants to move the account to another bank so that they will give him free banking (no fees).
Now that I have learned (in the Gemara, Bava Metzia 76a, and this is also ruled in the Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 306:3) about an agent who arranged a lower price with workers than the homeowner instructed him, that the workers have a grievance against him based on the principle of "אל תמנע טובה מבעליו" ("Do not withhold good from its owner"), I have become nervous: perhaps the manager of my brother‑in‑law’s bank will likewise have a grievance against me, that I prevented him from receiving payment that people wanted to pay him?
Thank you very much
Answer
Shalom u-vracha.
There is no issue here of the principle "אל תמנע טוב מבעליו" ("Do not withhold good from its owner"), and it is permitted to advise him in this way.
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