Is it a moral or legal obligation to pay a debt to a bank?

Around 2008 when the market crash and people were losing their homes, many people filed for bankruptcy. I remember some banks posting that debtors had a moral obligation to pay their debt, no matter what the law said. My answer to them were, banks are not moral. The law gives exemptions to protect people's income. I believe Jesus would say....."What does the law say?" You follow the laws. The banks have to follow the same laws we do. There is no moral obligation to the banks. How say you?

Exodus 22:25,25 “If you do lend silver to any of My people, the poor among you, you are not to be like one that lends on interest to him. Do not lay interest on him.

predatory usury that is rigged by billionaires against average people is immoral

With friends, family, and individuals, we have a moral obligation to pay back a loan otherwise it can be considered stealing. Of course, people should be lenient when there are hard times.

Generally I believe we have a moral obligation to pay back the debt we signed up for. Most of the people losing homes had adjustable rate mortgages which is not wise (they knew in advance of the possibility of high rates and increased mortgages). Those with fixed rate mortgages are more shielded; they should not face increased mortgage payments. We must be wise not take loans from loan sharks, predatory entities, etc. I think credit card companies are very predatory, so it is best to limit using them.

I wonder how our economy would do if we had a year of Jubilee every 50 years. The Hebrews failed to follow GOD's plan because of their greed. The economies could reset and not all the wealth would be going to the few at the top.

The Jews also worked 6 days. Alot of economic hardship might be relieved if people worked 6 days.
I'm not advocating a 6 day work week so much as advocating that if you want to implement another system it should be implemented fully to get the desired benefits.

Colleges/universities are also very predatory.

Why do you ask? You owe a bank some money and you're looking for a loophole to excuse yourself from paying?

“Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

You borrow money, you pay it back. That’s moral.

You sign a contract to pay a little more for the privilege of using someone else’s money, you pay the extra. That’s moral.

After you borrow, you unilaterally renegotiate the terms in judgment of the lender, that’s immoral… and sinful.

Whoever is a lender is a Master and whoever is in debt is the Slave. As it were the golden rule is he who has the gold makes the rules. PRAISE JESUS!

My take. You cannot sign away liability. If you desperately need a loan but go to a bank and end up with overcharges in the fine print. This is cheating. You did not agree to this. How many of you get a Lawyer to apply for a loan? Most don't, but banks are greedy and will cheat you. Don't start me on Evil credit card company's. Mortgage companies are the worst. Why do think the Fed took oversite of them, because they cheated so many people. I live debt free, and that's the only way. God has blessed me. I thank Jesus Christ everyday.

Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8 Berean

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. - NKJV

It is not the bank's money that they lend. It is people's deposits. Ideally, we should not be borrowing at all. We do not live in an ideal world. Money is a tool that we can use. Would you not return a tool that you borrowed? Yes, we have an obligation before God to pay our bills on time, to pay our taxes without cheating on what we claim as expenses and to repay what we borrow from finanacial institutions.

It is both.
Legal because that is the laws as we have them set up.
Moral, because you entered into a contract, knowing full well what it would cost you. If you borrow, then don't pay it back, it is theft.
Both.

Yes, it's a moral obligation. The law gives people a legal loophole; but Christians shouldn't resort to bankruptcy protection. It's legal but it's not moral and it only encourages people to live beyond their means. A lot of things are legal (murdering unborn children for example) but are far from moral. It's pointless to speculate about a Jubilee. If we had one things might be better but that doesn't change the fact we don't. You can't say, "Well, paying back my debt isn't a moral issue because if we had a Jubilee I wouldn't have to." Totally illogical.

If I accept a loan with a promise to repay it, I then have a moral obligation that is even greater than the legal obligation to repay it. My word is a very valuable thing. If a person's word has no value...

If you sign your name between an honest partner, then yes. But all banks are bound by their board members to make a profit, or else. Its all geared to make you indebted and keep paying them, and they will put legal language in that, without a Lawyer, cannot understand. I have caught this many times. I used to read contracts for a living, before I retired.

Good reason to avoid getting involved with banks, credit cards and the like. But that doesn't take away a person's moral obligation if they sign on the dotted line. You can't use as a defense: "They're a bunch of dirty rotten SOBs, therefore I'm not obligated to honor my commitment."

I was over court systems in my county and banks were sued on a regular basis because of these contracts. That still didn't stop banks, because they were making more money than loosing even in lawsuits.

Okay.

I can understand contracts, I've written a few myself. My word doesn't come with caveats beyond the agreement I've made. The morality of the party I've entered in to an agreement with isn't relevant with regards to my word. It is my moral responsibility to uphold my end of the agreement.

For the record, I'm not a proponent of borrowing money. The borrower is a slave to the lender.