There are laws and details that govern all types of chessed-kindness, and one must know all of them. However, the topic that should be clarified first is the mitzvah of extending loans, since there is a specific Torah commandment to do so: When you lend money to My people (Shemos 22:24) etc.
First we will clarify how many negative commandments a person is likely to transgress by failing to fulfill the chessed of giving a loan:
A. The Torah states (Devarim 15:9) that one should not refrain from giving loans prior to the Shemitta (Sabbatical) year, even though the lender is afraid that the borrower will not repay the loan before Shemitta and the debt will be severed. Despite this valid fear] the Torah calls such a person a beliya’al (‘irresponsible,’ ‘wicked’); all the more so and even greater is the sin of someone who refrains from loaning to his friend at a time that there is no fear of losing his money and he could have benefited him.
