IOUs usually become invalid when the debtor pays off all the money. Before that, creditors can take IOUs as evidence to sue the debtor in the people's court. However, the statute of limitations for IOUs will expire, usually for three years. According to the relevant laws and regulations, the limitation of action for a party to bring a lawsuit to the court for a civil dispute is three years, and the limitation of action shall be counted from the day when the obligee knows or should know that the right has been damaged and the obligor.
An IOU is a written document showing the relationship between creditor's rights and debts, which is generally written and signed by the debtor, indicating that the debtor has owed the borrower the amount indicated in the IOU.
The writing format of the IOU is as follows:
1. Write the title when you look up, and write the word "IOU" in the center;
2. Write the legal names of the borrower and the lender on the IOU, and the names cannot be replaced by lowercase or nicknames, otherwise the IOU will not be protected by law;
3. When writing IOUs, you can ask the borrower to attach the ID number after the legal name to avoid mistakes;
4. Write down the loan amount in detail, and the figures should be written in case;
5. state the loan term, loan interest rate and the amount of repayment due;
6. After the IOU is written, you must watch the borrower personally sign and seal it at the bottom of the IOU, and no one else can sign it.
article 667 of the civil code of the people's Republic of China is a loan contract in which the borrower borrows money from the lender, returns the loan at maturity and pays interest. Article 188 The limitation of action for requesting protection of civil rights from a people's court shall be three years. Where there are other provisions in the law, such provisions shall prevail. The limitation period of action shall be counted from the day when the obligee knows or should know that the right has been damaged and the obligor. Where there are other provisions in the law, such provisions shall prevail. However, if more than 2 years have passed since the right was damaged, the people's court will not protect it. Under special circumstances, the people's court may decide to extend it according to the application of the obligee.