Fill Out Legal California Promissory Notes Forms For Free

?A promissory note is basically an IOU,? says Bill Maurer, director of the Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion at the University of California, Irvine. ?It's a written statement of a promise to pay a specific sum of money by a specific time. Think of it as an IOU that's legally enforceable.?

At its most basic, a promissory note should include the following things: Date. Name of the lender and borrower. Loan amount. Whether the loan is secured or unsecured. If it's secured with collateral: What is the collateral? ... Payment amount and frequency. Payment due date. Whether the loan has a cosigner, and if so, who.

Oral agreements are not legally binding, and a promissory note must be in writing to be enforceable. ? Include all essential terms, such as the amount of money owed, the interest rate (if any), and the repayment schedule. Without these terms, the promissory note may be considered void or unenforceable.

A promissory note must include the date of the loan, the loan amount, the names of both the lender and borrower, the interest rate on the loan, and the timeline for repayment. Once the document is signed by both parties, it becomes a legally binding contract.

While the statute of limitations on an action in an obligation, liability, or contract is four years, Commercial Code Section 3118(a) gives a statute of limitations of six years for an action to be enforced on the party to pay their promissory note. This time period starts from the due date that's listed on the note.

No. Promissory notes do not need to be notarized. The borrower only needs to sign the document to make it legally enforceable. A witness may be helpful if one party contests the note, but a notary is not necessary.