Yerushalmi Ketubot 13:8 ירושלמי כתובות י״ג:ח׳

MISHNAH: If somebody produces a promissory note on another person who in his turn produces a document that [the creditor] sold him a field¹¹⁷The field was sold after the note had become due., Admon says, “if I really owed you, you should have collected what is yours when you sold me the field¹¹⁸The debtor can claim the debt documented in the I.O.U was forgiven since the creditor sold him something for the money which was due to him.;” but the Sages say, that one was smart when he sold him real estate because he can take it as a pledge¹¹⁹If the original mortgage stated that all present and future holdings of the debtor are pledged and the creditor was afraid the debtor would not pay, he seduced the latter into parting with his money by offering him real estate. If the debtor then does not pay, the creditor can take the real estate back and end up both with his money and his original property..

HALAKHAH: “If somebody produces a promissory note on another person,” etc. Rebbi Jonah says, if it is worth it¹²⁰The Sages’ argument in the Mishnah is good only if the sale of real estate covers the entire amount due.; Rebbi Yose says, even if it is not worth it¹²¹Even if the creditor cannot recover the entire amount of the bad debt, even partial recovery is better than nothing at all.. Think of it, if he had real estate¹²²If the debtor had real estate and the I.O.U. was already secured as a mortgage.! He can say to him, I want good real estate¹²³The argument is not detailed since a creditor can claim only to be paid by real estate of average quality (Chapter 9, Note 195; Chapter 12, Note 57). The argument given here makes sense only if one assumes with the following statement that the creditor can take back his own property.. Think of it, if he had good real estate¹²⁴If the debtor already had real estate which would satisfy all demands of a creditor. [R. Nissim Gerondi (commentary to Aliasi) reads: “If he had no good real estate”, i. e. if the creditor did not have real estate worth while for such a transaction.]! He can say to him, I want mine. In addition, he can say to him, to care for two parcels overtaxes my powers¹²⁵If he had to foreclose another parcel, he would have to work two fields. If he manages to foreclose his own, he has cash and only one field to work..