Loans & Debts

Refusing to settle one's debt

Q: My brother took a loan from me for 2-3 days by telling me that he needs the money urgently and he had sold his shop and would get money in 2-3 days and pay me. But he was lying to me. He was under heavy debt taken from many people and was not selling his shop (I don't know if he had a shop at all). He just wanted to take money from me.

Four years have passed and he has not returned a single penny. Had he told me the truth, I would have given him only a small amount of money as a loan, and not all my money from which I was making my earning. Now he is expecting to receive some money (about 25% of my loan) but he refused to pay me. The reason is that he wants to educate his daughter at a medical college and needed money for her.

My question is: If my brother gets any money, is he obliged to educate his children first or pay my loan first? He argues that his children are his responsibility. My argument is that I gave him all my money I was using to earn a living for my children.

Using store loyalty points to pay off a debt

Q: I owe money to a person. In lieu of direct payment, I occasionally do some shopping on the creditor's behalf and thus reduce the amount I owe. What happens if I use my store benefit/loyalty points when shopping?

Example: total amount purchased R500. I used my loyalty point balance of R100 and total amount paid was R400. I occasionally also purchase items from this store for my personal use. Do I reduce the amount I owe by R500 or R400? In essence - who is entitled to the benefit/cash back reward from the store?

Is maintaining a friendship after taking a loan interest?

Q: A person agreed with another person to lend some money and in exchange they will continue their friendship relationship. They have been friends for a year now and in order to continue the other person has agreed to lend money. Assuming if the borrower of the loan is willing to continue the relationship in exchange of a loan. Then friendship or continuation of relationship considered to be a benefit/interest in this scenario?

Paying back a loan in a different currency

Q: I gave a loan of 200 dollars to my friend a few years ago. I had these dollars from my aunt who gave them to me to deposit in my bank account. Now my friend is returning the amount to me but there is an issue, at that time it was equal to 105 Pakistani rupees per dollar... now it is 141 Pakistani rupees per dollar. 

At what rate should he return this amount to me? If I take it at 141 rupees, he will have to pay extra (from 105/$ to 141/$) to make it equal to 200 dollars and if I take money it at the rate of 105 per dollar I will get a lesser amount. Kindly guide me what to do.