Bava Batra 40B

דלא כתיב בה: ״אנן ידעינן ביה באונסא דפלניא״⁠ – לאו מודעא היא.

that does not have written in it the formulation: We are aware of so-and-so’s duress, i.e., we are aware of the nature of the coercion that forced him to enter this arrangement against his will, is not a valid preemptive declaration.

מודעא דמאי? אי דגיטא ודמתנתא ⁠– גלויי מילתא בעלמא היא! ואי דזביני, והאמר רבא: לא כתבינן מודעא אזביני!

For what type of transaction is the preemptive declaration being stated? If one were to say that it is a preemptive declaration for a bill of divorce or for a gift, the preemptive declaration is merely revealing the matter. Since these actions can’t take place unless he desires it, it is sufficient that he stated that he does not desire them, and he need not specify a particular reason for nullifying them. And if it is for a sale, but doesn’t Rava say: We do not write a preemptive declaration for a sale?

לעולם דזביני; מודי רבא היכא דאניס ⁠– וכמעשה דפרדיסא; דההוא גברא דמשכין פרדיסא לחבריה לתלת שנין. בתר דאכלה תלת שני חזקה, אמר: אי מזבנת לי ⁠– מוטב, ואי לא ⁠– כבישנא לשטר משכנתא, ואמינא: ״לקוחה היא בידי״. כהאי גוונא כתבינן מודעא.

The Talmud answers: Actually, it is referring to a preemptive declaration for a sale, as Rava concedes in a case where one was compelled to act due to a threat of monetary loss, as with the incident of the orchard, as there was a certain man who mortgaged his orchard to another for 3 years. After he worked and profited from it for the 3 years necessary for establishing the presumption of ownership, he said: If you sell the orchard to me, it is well. And if not, then I will hide the mortgage document and I will say that this land is purchased and that is why it is in my possession, and you will receive no payment for the orchard. In a case like this, we write a preemptive declaration. The declaration states that he does not actually desire to sell his property but was forced to do so.