Commentary for Bava Metzia 205:5

אמר רב נחמן שואל אדם בטובו לעולם

— He replied: What comparison is there? In that case, the purpose of the bond is to ensure repayment. Had he really repaid him, he should have written the fact on it, or obtained a receipt. But here he can say, 'The reason I wrote you a deed was that you should not claim ownership through unbroken possession.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V, B.B. III, 1. But not to shew how long the tenancy had lasted. [According to this interpretation, which follows Rashi, it is assumed that the deed, although in the possession of the tenant, served to give the matter publicity and thus preclude the possibility of the tenant claiming ownership on the strength of undisturbed occupation over a number of years. Tosaf., however, in the name of R. Han., preserves a preferable reading to the effect that the deed was drafted by the tenant in favour of the owner and recorded that he had hired the house for ten years from a certain date at so much per year. After five years the tenant says to the landowner, 'You hold already rent for five years,' whereas the landowner maintains, 'I hold rent for three years only;' in that case the tenant is believed on oath, because the tenant can say to the landowner, 'The reason I wrote you a deed was that I should not claim ownership through unbroken possession.'] ');">⁵</span>

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