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Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?[W:461]

Is there a moral obligation to repay money you borrow?

  • If you borrow money, you are morally obligated to repay it.

    Votes: 91 92.9%

  • I feel no moral obligation to repay loans I've taken out

    Votes: 7 7.1%
  • Total voters
    98
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

yes, I feel there is a moral obligation to repay a loan
if a situation arises where repayment becomes difficult, I also believe their is a moral obligation to attempt to re-visit the terms of the loans with the lender( and i feel the lender should have an obligation to entertain revisiting the terms)

and I do not believe there is a substantial difference between borrowing from a bank or a single person in regards to a persons moral obligation to repay his loan.... either you find repaying your loans to be moral obligation, or you do not...who or what the lender is rather irrelevant to this determination.




that all said... **** happens... sometimes a person is completely and utterly incapable of following through with their moral obligation through no fault of their own.
these folks should have a mechanism to find remedy.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

CanadaJohn said:
Not paying back a mortgage, while you financially are capable of doing so, simply because you feel the home is no longer worth more than the debt you owe on it is immoral.
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NO it's not immoral. It is a business decision and business decisions are made on the basis of interest, not morality.

If the right wingers were as sincere about business being ruled by morality as they're trying to pretend to believe in this thread, then they'd all support minimum wage and anti-discrimination laws.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

CanadaJohn said:
I'll be damned if I'd accept Donald Trump as either a conservative or moral. But you're absolutely right about big money people often having the cash and the expertise to game the system to their own financial benefit and that should be wrong in anyone's book.
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i don't recall THE donald trying to participate in the democratic primaries
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

sangha said:
NO it's not immoral. It is a business decision and business decisions are made on the basis of interest, not morality.

If the right wingers were as sincere about business being ruled by morality as they're trying to pretend to believe in this thread, then they'd all support minimum wage and anti-discrimination laws.
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That's your view, and you're entitled to it. I'm speaking for myself, personally. Not for anyone else, and not for any business or entity. For me, personally, if I take out a mortgage to partially pay for a home that I freely chose to purchase at a price I freely negotiated and agreed to, then as long as I'm financially capable of paying that mortgage, I have a moral obligation to do so regardless of the housing market circumstances that follow.

As I've said previously, my signature on a contract is my word - not keeping my word is immoral.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Gaius46 said:
Those profit margins are what pay for lots of peoples' retirement. Like it or not corporate management has a legal and moral obligation to do right with the assets that the owners of those assets have entrusted in them.
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That's fine but it has nothing to do with the point of my argument.
Just because others benefit does not mean layoffs is not an evil, its just an evil that benefits others.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Gaius46 said:
What if you borrow 10 grand from your brother in law?
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Oh you should never pay him back unless, of course, your sister is nailing his best friend, in which case you have to throw the guy some love.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

sangha said:
By "do right" are you referring to the way banks sold mortgages to people they knew could not afford them because they could avoid all the risk of default by selling the loan off to the govt?
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The situation was as I recall a tad more complex that that since the government was actively telling the industry to make more loans too marginal borrowers.

Generally I see nothing wrong with companies or people doing whatever is legal to better themselves. Personally I won't do things that are legal that offend my sense of right but my sense of right is mine and mine alone.

With a contract my word is my bond and I dishonor myself if I don't do my best to live up to the terms. Of course stuff happens and if my situation changes - say I lose my job - I'll look to make an arrangement that will still honor my word in the end.

Doesn't matter if the contract is a handshake with my brother in law or a mortgage with a bank.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

sangha said:
NO it's not immoral. It is a business decision and business decisions are made on the basis of interest, not morality.

If the right wingers were as sincere about business being ruled by morality as they're trying to pretend to believe in this thread, then they'd all support minimum wage and anti-discrimination laws.
Click to expand...

the question isn't one of whether business should be ruled by morality.... the question is about the whether there is a moral obligation for the borrower to repay what he has borrowed.

nothing about the lender affects the borrower in regards to the question.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

sangha said:
NO it's not immoral. It is a business decision and business decisions are made on the basis of interest, not morality.

If the right wingers were as sincere about business being ruled by morality as they're trying to pretend to believe in this thread, then they'd all support minimum wage and anti-discrimination laws.
Click to expand...

Minimum wage and anti-discrimation laws are immoral, so clearly if I was interested in morality I would oppose them.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

justabubba said:
i don't recall THE donald trying to participate in the democratic primaries
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Now, just to be clear, I said small (c) conservative, not Republican, and in the same vein, to be technical, participating in the Republican primary - had he done so - would have been "participating in the democratic primaries", that being small (d) democratic. And no, Trump, being the opportunist that he is, would not have tried to participate in the Democrat primary, with Obama as President - he chose the Republican one because he thought he could be the best of a bad lot.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

CanadaJohn said:
That's your view, and you're entitled to it. I'm speaking for myself, personally. Not for anyone else, and not for any business or entity. For me, personally, if I take out a mortgage to partially pay for a home that I freely chose to purchase at a price I freely negotiated and agreed to, then as long as I'm financially capable of paying that mortgage, I have a moral obligation to do so regardless of the housing market circumstances that follow.

As I've said previously, my signature on a contract is my word - not keeping my word is immoral.
Click to expand...

If you want to feel morally obligated to a non-corporeal and souless entity, you are free to do so.

On the other hand, I know that the bank will make their decisions based on whatever is best for the bank. The bank will not take any time contemplating the morality of its' actions. If doing something is in their interest, they will do it and not give a rat's ass about whether it is moral or not. I merely treat it as the amoral creation of the govt that it is. In my dealings with banks, I do what's in my best interests to do. If walking away from a loan is in my interest, then walking is what I do. There's nothing immoral about that.

But again, if you want to put the interests of a bank before the interests of you and your family, you are free to do so.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Fearandloathing said:
Did you sign a document or make a verbal promise to repay it?

Then yes....else you have no integrity.
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What if you didn't sign anything? What if you borrow money from me and I don't make you sign anything? Wouldn't you still be morally obligated to pay me back.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

sangha said:
Because liberals are smart enough to understand the amorality of business while the moronic right wingers are incapable of anything other than worshipping corporate entities.
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If you able to **** over a corporation for money you'll have no problem ****ing over others for money - amorality can always be justified somehow, especially if there's an ideology behind it like the one that justifies lies and deceit "for the greater good".
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Gaius46 said:
The situation was as I recall a tad more complex that that since the government was actively telling the industry to make more loans too marginal borrowers.

Generally I see nothing wrong with companies or people doing whatever is legal to better themselves. Personally I won't do things that are legal that offend my sense of right but my sense of right is mine and mine alone.

With a contract my word is my bond and I dishonor myself if I don't do my best to live up to the terms. Of course stuff happens and if my situation changes - say I lose my job - I'll look to make an arrangement that will still honor my word in the end.

Doesn't matter if the contract is a handshake with my brother in law or a mortgage with a bank.
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With mortgages, the contract specifies that in cases of non-payment the property is foreclosed on. Not paying and then having the property foreclosed on is in keeping with the terms of the contract.

So there's nothing dishonorable about it. It's how such loans work and both sides understand that it's a possibility.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

sangha said:
If you want to feel morally obligated to a non-corporeal and souless entity, you are free to do so.

On the other hand, I know that the bank will make their decisions based on whatever is best for the bank. The bank will not take any time contemplating the morality of its' actions. If doing something is in their interest, they will do it and not give a rat's ass about whether it is moral or not. I merely treat it as the amoral creation of the govt that it is. In my dealings with banks, I do what's in my best interests to do. If walking away from a loan is in my interest, then walking is what I do. There's nothing immoral about that.

But again, if you want to put the interests of a bank before the interests of you and your family, you are free to do so.
Click to expand...

If a bank is immoral or not has nothing to with your action being moral or immoral.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

sangha said:
If you want to feel morally obligated to a non-corporeal and souless entity, you are free to do so.

On the other hand, I know that the bank will make their decisions based on whatever is best for the bank. The bank will not take any time contemplating the morality of its' actions. If doing something is in their interest, they will do it and not give a rat's ass about whether it is moral or not. I merely treat it as the amoral creation of the govt that it is. In my dealings with banks, I do what's in my best interests to do. If walking away from a loan is in my interest, then walking is what I do. There's nothing immoral about that.

But again, if you want to put the interests of a bank before the interests of you and your family, you are free to do so.
Click to expand...

As I've said before, I speak for myself only. It's immaterial to me if the other party I'm dealing with is immoral. What's material is that I remain moral and a man with integrity. You may choose to wallow in the gutter with the scum and feel whatever some lowlife does is plenty good for you - that's your prerogative. As a person of integrity, a person of morals, and a person who values my own word, I would no longer be the person I am, the person I choose to be, if I had the cavalier attitude towards honour that you espouse.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

sangha said:
With mortgages, the contract specifies that in cases of non-payment the property is foreclosed on. Not paying and then having the property foreclosed on is in keeping with the terms of the contract.

So there's nothing dishonorable about it. It's how such loans work and both sides understand that it's a possibility.
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Not paying your debts is dishonorable.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Thrilla said:
the question isn't one of whether business should be ruled by morality.... the question is about the whether there is a moral obligation for the borrower to repay what he has borrowed.

nothing about the lender affects the borrower in regards to the question.
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I disagree. The fact that we're talking about mortgages given by banks means we're talking about a specific type of agreement - one where both parties understand that non-payment is a possibility and both parties understand and agree that in such a case, foreclosure occurs.

It's all a part of the terms of the contract.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

sangha said:
If you want to feel morally obligated to a non-corporeal and souless entity, you are free to do so.

On the other hand, I know that the bank will make their decisions based on whatever is best for the bank. The bank will not take any time contemplating the morality of its' actions. If doing something is in their interest, they will do it and not give a rat's ass about whether it is moral or not. I merely treat it as the amoral creation of the govt that it is. In my dealings with banks, I do what's in my best interests to do. If walking away from a loan is in my interest, then walking is what I do. There's nothing immoral about that.

But again, if you want to put the interests of a bank before the interests of you and your family, you are free to do so.
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interesting.

I generally base my moral obligations on my own personal values... not the values of those whom I deal with <shrug>
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Ockham said:
If you able to **** over a corporation for money you'll have no problem ****ing over others for money - amorality can always be justified somehow, especially if there's an ideology behind it like the one that justifies lies and deceit "for the greater good".
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Abiding by the terms of a mortgage - and mortgages specify what happens in cases of non-payment - is not "****ing over a corporation"
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Not repaying a debt is also morally wrong: you needed the money and said loaner felt morally obligated to help you out. You took the money on his / her terms. You are now beholden to those terms whether you believe in morality or not. Morality will continue in the world with or without you.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

The reason contracts are needed at all is because of the views presented in this thread.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Of course no one should have to repay a loan. I say just grab the loot, and the fool of a lender be damned.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

CanadaJohn said:
As I've said before, I speak for myself only. It's immaterial to me if the other party I'm dealing with is immoral. What's material is that I remain moral and a man with integrity. You may choose to wallow in the gutter with the scum and feel whatever some lowlife does is plenty good for you - that's your prerogative. As a person of integrity, a person of morals, and a person who values my own word, I would no longer be the person I am, the person I choose to be, if I had the cavalier attitude towards honour that you espouse.
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There is nothing immoral about taking a course of action that the lender agreed to when it entered into the contract but there is something profoundly unwise and morally depraved in thinking there's something wrong with making a choice that even the lender agreed you are free to make.
 
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