1,189. Prozbul

180:15 A loan supported by a prozbul is not canceled by the sabbatical year. What's a prozbul? The lender goes to three learned and Torah-observant men who form a beis din. He says to them, "You are judges. I hand over to you all my debts, that I have from this person and that person, so that I may collect them whenever I want."  They write him a prozbul saying, "In a session of we three sitting together and you, so-and-so, the lender, you said to us, 'I hand over....'" The three of them sign at the bottom, either as judges or as witnesses. They may even do this at the end of the year, i.e., on the day before Rosh Hashana, before sunset. Some authorities say that they need not actually write the prozbul; it's sufficient based on his statement before them. Even if there is no beis din in his area, he can say, "I hand my documents over to the beis din that is in such-and-such place."

180:16 The prozbul is only effective if the borrower has some land. Any amount at all is sufficient, even a flower pot with a hole in it. Even if the borrower has nothing, but his guarantor or a third party who owes him money does, this is sufficient. If these other people also don't have any land, but the lender has some land of any size, he can transfer it to the borrower. This may be done even through a third party and even not in the borrower's presence, and it is still sufficient for a prozbul.