1. The validity period of the IOU
The validity period of the IOU refers to the statute of limitations of the IOU. The statute of limitations of the IOU does not affect the validity of the IOU itself. As long as it is a true and valid IOU signed legally, no matter how old it is, the IOU itself is valid. Time is only a matter of ensuring whether the statute of limitations has expired and whether you will receive legal protection.
Regarding the statute of limitations for IOUs, like the statute of limitations for private loans, it depends on whether the repayment time has been agreed upon. If the repayment date is specified, the statute of limitations will be calculated from the day after the repayment date. Two years. If there is no agreed return time, the maximum statute of limitations is 20 years.
2. What to do if the statute of limitations for the IOU is exceeded
1. When the statute of limitations for litigation has expired, try to consider friendly negotiation to promote the repayment of the original IOU and the IOU reached by both parties. payment agreement. If both parties reach a repayment agreement on the original debt, the repayment agreement belongs to a new creditor's rights and debt relationship, and the repayment agreement should be protected by law.
2. If the statute of limitations has expired and the parties are unable to negotiate, the creditor may consider issuing a notice to the other party to collect due payments. If the debtor signs or seals the notice, it shall be regarded as a re-confirmation of the original debt, and the creditor-debtor relationship shall be protected by law.
Regardless of whether there is a repayment date stipulated in the IOU, the lender should pay attention to the issue of statute of limitations. If you have any questions about the statute of limitations, it is recommended that you consult a lawyer and find out the problem as early as possible to solve it. , in order to miss the statute of limitations and become passive, it may also cause losses to one's own creditor's rights.
3. The difference in statute of limitations between IOUs and IOUs without repayment deadlines is:
1. IOUs: If the creditor has not claimed its rights, the statute of limitations cannot begin. Therefore, the two-year ordinary statute of limitations is calculated from the date when the obligee claims the right but the obligor refuses to perform the obligation. If the creditor has not asserted its rights, the longest statute of limitations shall apply, which is 20 years from the date of occurrence of the creditor-debt relationship. If the creditor's rights exceed 20 years, the people's court will not grant protection.
2. IOU: According to judicial interpretations, when the debtor issues an IOU, it shall be deemed that the statute of limitations has been interrupted. If the creditor fails to assert its rights after the interruption of the statute of limitations, the statute of limitations period shall be recalculated from the day after the creditor receives the IOU written by the debtor.
Extended reading:
Things to note when writing IOUs
1. The format should be standardized and clear.
It is recommended to use the standardized format of IOUs, receipts and other documents. A complete IOU mainly includes four elements: creditor, debtor, content of the amount owed and time of return, and of course signature and time. A receipt should include five elements: payer, recipient, reason for delivery, content of delivery. and delivery time. These contents are reflected in the formally produced and filled-in documents (available in stores), making it clear at a glance, and the rights and obligations of the parties are very clear.
2. Format precautions.
When writing documents, there should be no spaces or blank lines between the lines, otherwise it is easy for the document holder to add other content. Do not write with a faded pen. It is best to use black ink or blue-black ink for a pen. A black fountain pen is also acceptable. If you use a ballpoint pen or other easy-to-fading ink to write documents, the handwriting will become blurry if it is improperly stored due to moisture or water. This may also create an opportunity for someone with ulterior motives to use chemical agents to alter the document.
3. The subject matter should be written clearly.
When borrowing money, repaying money, borrowing things, or returning things, the amount and quantity should be written clearly. It is best to use capital letters to prevent alteration and forgery. It's money and it's things, they need to be distinguished clearly and not blurred or confused.
When it comes to numbers, it is best to use capital letters. There are lowercase letters but no uppercase letters, inconsistent uppercase and lowercase letters, spaces in front of numbers, inaccurate decimal point positions, etc. These all make it easier for the holder to add numbers or modify them, thus causing disputes. For example, "The payment is one hundred and eighty thousand yuan (1.8 million yuan)". This is a common mistake. The author has seen it many times; adding a zero at the end of the Arabic numeral will cause the amount to change suddenly.
4. The content should be clearly stated.
Don’t be careless about the sentences, and don’t reverse the order. There is a huge difference between “borrowed from Zhang San” and “borrowed from Zhang San”; do not change “IOU” and “receipt” from each other, otherwise the relevant smearing will be Lay the groundwork for disputes; don't turn "IOU" into "IOU". Some companies default on migrant workers' wages and issue "IOU" to migrant workers for loans instead of "IOU" on the company's arrears of wages. In this way, one word difference can cause labor disputes in an instant. If it turns into a civil loan dispute, migrant workers will find it difficult to report or appeal to the labor arbitration department for the company's long-term wage arrears, and can only sue in court.
Some documents write "buy" as "sell", "receive" as "pay", etc. Although the difference is only one word, it is very easy to confuse right and wrong. For example, an IOU: "Huo borrowed 50,000 yuan in cash from Liu, and now he still owes 5,000 yuan." The word "huan" here has two pronunciations, which can be understood as "return" and "still owe".
5. Signatures and seals should not be underestimated.
The signature must be signed with your real name. Pseudonyms, code names, and homophonic names are not standardized. It is best to use the name on the ID card to avoid disputes. It is also easy to cause disputes if someone else writes the documents or signs on their behalf, but I only put a fingerprint on it. Rural areas are accustomed to stamping. However, the legal effect of affixing a private seal is not high. When the smart Zhang Zuolin signed the agreement with the Japanese, he affixed the seal without signing it, which was intended to lay the foundation for later not admitting the account. Anyone can carve a seal, but each handwriting has its own characteristics. Hong Kong people are accustomed to using an English letter instead of a signature. The author often sees Hong Kong people signing with dragons and phoenixes. A letter is just a few twists and turns. It is protected by law in Hong Kong. When doing business with Hong Kong people in the mainland, it is best to ask them to sign their full name to avoid unnecessary trouble. Let the judge find it difficult to decide between right and wrong.
The unit should indicate the name of the unit, preferably with the official seal of the unit. The signature of the legal representative is also acceptable. If it is another person, there should be a power of attorney. The company's seal should be standardized. It is best to stamp the official seal with the highest validity on the receipt. It would not be appropriate to stamp "a company's special administrative seal", "special seal for collecting debts", "special seal for warehouse" or a small thumb-sized seal. . If the unit refuses to admit that it has those department seals and sub-seals, it will be difficult to clarify the facts.
Individuals and units should use their full names instead of abbreviations, code names, and pseudonyms. For example, "Mr. Sima" in "I owe Mr. Sima 2,000 yuan for goods now" is unclear; for example, "xx company" in "I owe xx company 380,000 yuan for materials now" is unclear. As far as the author knows, there is also a xx company in Zhengzhou.
All parties involved must be present when signing and sealing to prevent others from impersonating or replacing the document.
6. The time should be written clearly.
The time for exercising rights, performing obligations, and issuing documents should be clear and clear. Once a dispute arises over undated documents, it will be difficult to ascertain the truth, and it will also be difficult to determine the statute of limitations.
For documents that stipulate a time limit for performance of obligations, a lawsuit must be filed in the People's Court within a certain period of time from the date when the obligation should be performed to claim rights. If there is no suspension, interruption or extension of the statute of limitations, the right to win the lawsuit will be lost. .
7. The interest rate must be stated.
Don’t fail to indicate the interest to save face just because you are a friend or relative. If you want to calculate interest, you should specify the interest rate. Otherwise, after the lawsuit is filed in court, it will be deemed that the interest has not been agreed upon. Article 211 of the Contract Law clearly stipulates: If a loan contract between natural persons does not stipulate the payment of interest or the stipulation is unclear, it shall be deemed that no interest has been paid.
If interest rates are unclear, disputes may easily arise. For example, Zhang Damin wrote an IOU: "I owe Wang Mazi RMB 80,000 today, with an interest of 2 cents, and I will pay it off within 8 months." It is a fact to borrow money, but it is difficult to tell whether the agreed interest is 2 cents per month or 2 cents per month. In this case, there have been precedents and it was determined that the agreement was unclear. For the sake of fairness, Wang Mazi received the interest paid by Zhang Damin based on the bank's loan interest rate for the same period.
Interest rate and interest are two different concepts. It is inappropriate to write 2-cent interest rate as 2-cent interest, or as 0.2-cent interest, or as 0.2% interest. Interest rate is the ratio of interest to principal. The main expression methods are: 1) annual interest rate: expressed as %; 2) monthly interest rate, expressed as ‰; 3) daily interest rate, expressed as "?/10,000". Whether it is a bank or a private loan, when interest is agreed upon, the written expression should be "interest rate". Bank lending interest rates are usually calculated on a monthly basis, expressed by "‰". The interest rate of 2 cents is 20‰ (i.e. 2%), and the monthly interest rate is 5%. Six is ??5.6‰.
8. Pay attention to carefully checking the documents.
After writing the documents, both parties should carefully check them. If there are any loopholes, they should be corrected or rewritten immediately. You can also find a third party to review every word of the document, and avoid signing and sealing it in a haphazard manner.
9. Invalid text.
The act of writing an "IOU" under duress is an invalid civil act, and the relationship of rights and obligations will not be confirmed by the court; IOUs for gambling debts, marriage, and emotional debts are not protected by law and should be Invalid; when borrowing money, if you know that the other party will use it for illegal activities, do not lend to the other party, otherwise the loan will not be protected by law.
10. Documents must be properly preserved.
Be careful to keep the complete IOU. If the IOU is missing corners, the evidence effect will be weakened. In order to protect your own legitimate rights and interests, you should pay attention to preserving evidence, and generally keep copies of documents. If the other party defrauds the documents and destroys them immediately, it will lead to an outcome where the facts are difficult to tell. If the other party robs or violently seizes the documents and then tears them up to achieve the purpose of not performing the debt, it is suspected of robbery or robbery. Stealing IOUs may also lead to suspicion of theft.
11. Pay special attention to business dealings.
Business transactions with unclear procedures are prone to trouble. A common situation is that the other party has not paid, the party does not have complete documents, and there is no other price list or price list. After each batch of goods is delivered, the "Delivery Order", "Incoming Material Acceptance Form" and other documents should be filled in immediately, and the other party's signature and seal should be required. After delivering the goods, the settlement should be made immediately. After all the money has been settled, the settlement statement should be made as soon as possible. If the payment cannot be made on the spot, a new document should be drawn up after the settlement procedures are completed. At this time, remember to record all the things that happened before the settlement. Receipts, IOUs, and receipts will be withdrawn. If they cannot be withdrawn for a while, it will be noted on the settlement statement that "all notes before this are invalid."
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12. Deal with the aftermath.
When repaying, remember to ask for the IOU. If the other party says that he cannot find the IOU at the moment, ask him to write a receipt and keep it. This will not leave hidden dangers in the future. After the creditor-debt relationship ends, the relevant documents will be destroyed or archived.