Lender & Borrower Guides
Plain-English answers for lending and borrowing situations the standard finance advice never covers. Each guide ends with the right note type for what you are doing.
Maximum Legal Interest Rate on a Loan by State
State usury caps on a private loan or promissory note, the exemptions that swallow the rule, the penalties for charging too much, and a 50-state table.
Read the guide →Is a Promissory Note Legally Binding?
What makes a note enforceable, why it usually does not need notarization, the elements a court looks for, and what can quietly make a good note uncollectible.
Read the guide →Are Promissory Notes Taxable?
Why the principal is not income but the interest is, imputed interest on low-rate loans, gift-tax overlap, and what each side reports to the IRS.
Read the guide →Lost or Destroyed Promissory Note
You can still collect on a note you lost. How a lost-note affidavit and an indemnity work, the evidence courts accept, and how to prevent it next time.
Read the guide →Personal Guaranty on a Business Loan
How a personal guaranty works, the unlimited vs limited types, federal spousal-consent rules, and what makes one actually enforceable in court.
Read the guide →Confession of Judgment Clauses
Banned in consumer credit, restricted in most states, still enforceable in Pennsylvania and a few others. When they help, when they backfire, and how to challenge one.
Read the guide →Small Claims Court for Unpaid Promissory Notes
State limits range from $2,500 to $25,000. What to bring, common borrower defenses, and how to actually collect on a judgment after winning.
Read the guide →Lending Money to Family or Friends
How to make a family loan that does not destroy the relationship: written terms, IRS minimum interest rates, and which note type fits.
Read the guide →When a Borrower Stops Paying
A step-by-step playbook: demand letter, acceleration, collateral, small claims, statute of limitations. Move fast, in the right order.
Read the guide →Promissory Note vs IOU vs Loan Agreement
Three documents that look similar but protect you very differently. What each one is, when to use it, and what happens in court.
Read the guide →Secured vs Unsecured: When to Require Collateral
Loan size thresholds, types of collateral, UCC-1 filings, and when an unsecured note is the right call instead.
Read the guide →Imputed Interest and the IRS AFR for Family Loans
What happens when you charge 0% on a family loan. Applicable Federal Rate explained, the $10,000 exception, and gift-tax overlap.
Read the guide →Promissory Note for a Private Vehicle Sale
Seller-financed vehicle sales: promissory note, lien on title, DMV filing, and what to do if the buyer stops paying.
Read the guide →Statute of Limitations on Old Debts
How long you have to sue on a note, when the clock starts, what restarts it, and which actions can permanently toll the deadline.
Read the guide →Demand Note vs Installment Note: When Each Makes Sense
Cash-flow timing, business uses, notice procedures, and how to choose the right repayment structure for your loan.
Read the guide →Co-Signer or Guarantor on a Note
The difference between a co-signer and a guarantor, when guarantor liability ends, and common mistakes that release a guarantor.
Read the guide →Forgiving a Family Loan: Gift Tax Considerations
Annual exclusion, lifetime exemption, forgiving in installments across years, Form 709, and what the borrower owes in taxes.
Read the guide →Acceleration Clauses: When to Use and How to Invoke
Cure periods, written notice mechanics, the one-way-door problem, and when invoking acceleration is the right call.
Read the guide →Selling or Assigning a Promissory Note
UCC Article 3 negotiability, how to assign a note, notice to the borrower, discount pricing, and buyer due diligence.
Read the guide →Promissory Note for a Business Loan
Owner-to-business loans, related-party IRS rules, S-corp basis tracking, and when you also need a loan agreement.
Read the guide →Promissory Note for Real Estate
Why you need both a note and a mortgage or deed of trust, recording requirements, balloon payments, and when to use an attorney.
Read the guide →What to Do with a Paid-Off Note
Marking the note paid, releasing UCC-1 liens, returning the original to the borrower, vehicle title releases, and retention rules.
Read the guide →Notarization and Witnesses on a Promissory Note
When notarization is required, when witnesses help, what each one actually proves in court, and how to do it right the first time.
Read the guide →Late Fees, Default Interest, and Grace Periods
How to set late fees that hold up in court, the difference between default interest and a late fee, and grace period mechanics.
Read the guide →Perfecting Collateral Liens: UCC-1 and Titled Property
Filing a UCC-1 on business assets, recording liens on vehicle titles and real estate, and why an unperfected lien may be worthless.
Read the guide →Recording Payments and Keeping a Payment Ledger
How to keep a payment log that survives a court challenge, what each entry should include, and how to send periodic statements.
Read the guide →Demand Note: How to Make Demand and What Happens Next
Written demand mechanics, the reasonable-time standard, certified mail vs email, and the timeline from demand to lawsuit.
Read the guide →Lending to Your Own LLC or Small Business
Owner-to-business loans done right: written note, AFR interest, S-corp basis, and why a sloppy loan can be reclassified as a contribution.
Read the guide →Down Payment Loan From Parents to Homebuyer
Gift letter vs promissory note, mortgage lender impact, AFR interest, and the structure that satisfies the lender and the IRS at the same time.
Read the guide →Refinancing or Modifying an Existing Note
When to amend versus replace, statute-of-limitations reset, security carryover, and capitalizing accrued interest into a new principal.
Read the guide →Promissory Note for Tuition or Wedding Loan
Deferred payments for school, immediate payments for weddings, the direct-tuition tax exemption, and the annual-exclusion forgiveness strategy.
Read the guide →Seller Financing on a Private Home Sale
Note + mortgage structure, Dodd-Frank limits, due-on-sale traps, installment sale tax treatment, and how foreclosure works if the buyer stops paying.
Read the guide →Out-of-State Borrower or Lender: Whose Usury Law Applies?
Choice-of-law clauses, fundamental public policy override, federal preemption for banks, and how to draft a note that works across state lines.
Read the guide →Converting an Old IOU Into a Real Promissory Note
Formalize a handshake loan or scribbled IOU into an enforceable note. Acknowledgment, statute-of-limitations reset, and how to ask without starting a fight.
Read the guide →Promissory Note in a Divorce Settlement
House and business buyouts paid over time. Note vs decree, securing the obligation, AFR interest rates, life insurance, and tax treatment after TCJA.
Read the guide →Loaning Money to a Friend's Business
Personal guarantees, UCC-1 security on business assets, interest rate selection, and the structure that protects both the friendship and the loan.
Read the guide →Promissory Note When Starting a Business With a Partner
Equalize unequal cash contributions with a note from the company. Subordination, operating-agreement integration, and tax treatment for co-founders.
Read the guide →Promissory Note for an Advance on an Inheritance
When a parent helps one child during their lifetime, document intent. Note vs advancement letter, hotchpot rules, and how to keep siblings from fighting at probate.
Read the guide →Bridge Loan Between Family Members
Down payment timing, business cash crunch, settlement bridge. Payoff trigger clauses, hard maturity backstops, and the short note structure that fits each scenario.
Read the guide →Need a Promissory Note?
Get a completed, state-specific promissory note in minutes. Required disclosures, usury savings clause, and ready to sign.
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