How We Verify Our Data

A promissory note carries real stakes, such as the maximum interest rate your state allows, the penalty for crossing that line, and how long a lender has to sue on the note. We show these values on every state page and use the usury cap to warn you on the form if your rate looks too high. This page explains how we try to get them right, and where our responsibility ends and yours begins.

We work from official primary sources

Wherever possible, we base each per-state value on an official government source: the codified statute itself, read on the legislature's own site. Where we can, we load the live official page and record the non-search URL along with the sentence the value rests on.

We try not to treat a Google or Bing result snippet as the final authority, even when it quotes an official site, because snippets can truncate the exemptions, brackets, and effective dates that change what a usury rule actually means. We also do not rely on legal aggregator sites such as Justia, FindLaw, or Nolo as the source of truth. They are useful for finding a statute number, but we treat the codified statute as the better guide.

We try to read the full statute, not just the headline rate

Usury law is layered: a general cap, exemptions for licensed lenders or business loans, a separate default rate when no rate is written, and sometimes an index that moves over time. Reading the full statute is how we try to catch errors that a quick search would repeat. When a state appears to have no general usury cap for private lending, we try to say so rather than invent a number, and we remove thresholds that do not appear in the code: our 2026 review struck a dollar threshold that earlier data had attached to Illinois and another that had been attached to Oklahoma.

What our last review covered

In May 2026 we reviewed all 51 US jurisdictions (50 states plus the District of Columbia). The review looked at maximum interest rates, the default legal rate when no rate is specified, usury penalties and their severity, and the statute of limitations for enforcing a note, reading each value from the official statute where available and logging it with its URL and source text. Some examples of values confirmed or corrected in that review:

The six-year statute of limitations on negotiable instruments under UCC 3-118, with Louisiana set to its own five-year period under Civil Code article 3498.
Colorado's maximum rate updated to reflect HB23-1229 and C.R.S. 5-2-201.
Georgia shown at a 7% default legal rate and a 16% written-contract cap, per O.C.G.A. 7-4-2.
North Dakota's cap checked against its Treasury-bill index, which moves with the published rate.
Dollar thresholds removed from the Illinois and Oklahoma entries after a full read of the code.

These values do not print into the promissory note you generate. They power the state pages, our free tools, and the interest-rate warning that flags a rate above your state's cap while you fill out the form. They also reflect what we found at the time of that review. Any of them can change afterward, and many loans are exempt from the general cap, so please confirm the current rule before you rely on it.

Not legal, financial, or tax advice, and no guarantee

Your Promissory Note is a self-help document-preparation service, not a law firm, and nothing on this site is legal, financial, or tax advice, or a substitute for advice from a licensed professional. We put real effort into getting these requirements right, but laws change often, usury caps have many exemptions (loans to businesses, licensed lenders, and certain secured or large loans can be treated differently), and official sources are sometimes unclear or out of date themselves. We cannot promise that every value is accurate, complete, or current. The information on this site and the documents you generate are provided for general informational purposes, on an "as is" basis, without warranties of any kind, express or implied.

You are responsible for confirming any requirement before you rely on it. We name the governing statute on every state page so you can check the current rule yourself, and for a large loan or a question specific to your situation you should consult a licensed attorney, and a tax professional for anything involving imputed interest or the applicable federal rate. To the fullest extent permitted by law, 7H Ventures LLC is not responsible for any loss or damage arising from use of this site or the documents it generates.

Found something that looks wrong? Tell us

If you believe a value is out of date or incorrect, email [email protected] with the state, the field, and a link to the official source. We review reports against the primary source and update the data when a correction is warranted.

Your Promissory Note is operated by 7H Ventures LLC, based in Georgia. Data last reviewed May 2026.