Rav Yitzchak Grossman
Answer: The concept of yei'ush is found regarding numerous halachos – most prominently regarding lost objects. If someone loses an object and makes a declaration in which he despairs of ever finding it, he loses his ownership of the object.
There is a machlokes whether yei'ush works to cancel a debt. Many Acharonim say that it does and many say that it does not. Some rule that it depends on the situation - if the situation is such where one would assume that a normal person would despair of ever retrieving his money, then yei'ush does cancel out the loan. If the situation is one where most people would assume that a lender would not give up hope, then they say that yei'ush would not be sufficient to cancel the loan obligation.
Question: What if I forgave the debt? Do I need to write in a shtar that the debt is forgiven or is it enough if I say or think it?
Answer: Mechilah can definitely erase a debt. However, what form the forgiveness must take is more complicated.
If the loan was given without a written shtar, it can be forgiven orally. If it was given with a shtar, there is a machlokes whether an oral declaration of forgiveness is sufficient or if the lender would need to take back the shtar.
There is another machlokes whether thinking in one's mind that he forgives the debt is enough, or if the declaration needs to be made out loud. There is a general rule that "devarim shebalev lo hava devarim," which means that thoughts are not binding. Some Poskim apply this rule to forgiving a loan and say that just thinking it is not enough.
Others argue and say that devarim shebalev are only not valid if one makes a verbal statement that contradicts his thoughts. If there is nothing contradicting the thoughts, then the mental declaration is binding. These Poskim posit that since the lender says nothing to contradict his unspoken forgiveness of the loan, the mechilah is valid.
In any event, for thoughts of forgiveness to be valid the lender would need to have a thought that constitutes a clear and unequivocal mechilah, rather than simply thinking that he feels bad for the borrower and wants to go easy on him.
Practically speaking, if the lender admits he forgave the loan in his mind, but says that he wants to retract that forgiveness, the borrower may have the upper hand. The reason is that the borrower is usually the muchzik on the money, and he may be able to rely on the opinion that a mental mechilah is valid and he doesn't have to pay his debt.
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