In our lives, it is inevitable that we will borrow money from friends, relatives or colleagues. Sometimes it's because of a sudden emergency, sometimes it's because of a turnaround, sometimes it's because of business needs. Whatever the reason, borrowing money can often feel tricky. In order to avoid loan disputes, people often choose to write IOUs to clarify the loan relationship. However, even when it comes to something as simple as writing an IOU, there are many details that need to be paid attention to, and one of the most important details is not to make a mistake in writing three words. Next, I will share some tips on writing IOUs through my own personal experience and some real stories.
Story 1: If you don't have a word, the money is gone
I remember one time, I borrowed money from a good friend for an emergency. In order to avoid future disputes, we decided to write an IOU. I carefully wrote down the contents of the IOU, and after confirming that it was correct, I handed it to my friend to sign for confirmation. However, as I turned out to be a serious mistake, I left out the word "year" in the date column of the IOU. Although I originally wanted to write the date clearly, this small oversight led to the legal validity of the IOU being questioned. When I tried to recover the loan, my friend refused my request on the grounds that the IOU was incomplete. Although we eventually solved the problem afterwards, it made me deeply aware of the details of writing IOUs.
Story 2: The amount is miswritten, and the debt is difficult to solve
On another occasion, I had a dispute with a colleague about a loan. At that time, I was in urgent need of a sum of money for my family's emergency expenses, so I borrowed a certain amount of money from him. We wrote an IOU as usual, clearly indicating the amount borrowed and the time of repayment. However, when filling in the amount borrowed, I wrote the wrong number and wrote an extra zero. Although I didn't notice the mistake at the time, when I finally made the payment, my colleague asked me to repay the wrong amount based on the amount written on the IOU. This misunderstanding led to conflicts and disputes between us, which eventually took a lot of time and energy to resolve.
Story 3: Miswrite the payee and confuse the identity
Another time, I borrowed a sum of money from my relatives for an investment project. Considering the large amount, we decided to write a detailed IOU to ensure that the borrowing relationship is clear and straightforward. However, when filling out the IOU, I actually misspelled the borrower's name and wrote my name as my relative's name. This oversight led to serious questions about the legal validity of the IOU, which eventually put me in a difficult position when it came to recovering the loan.
As can be seen from these three stories, the issue of details when writing IOUs is very important. If we write the wrong key information on the IOU, it is likely to lead to a loan dispute or even a loss of money. To avoid this from happening, I've summarized some key details to be aware of when writing an IOU.
First of all, it is important to make sure that the content of the IOU is complete and accurate. Information including the name of the borrower and lender, the amount borrowed, the purpose of the loan, the method and time of repayment should be filled in clearly. Negligence in any detail can lead to disputes.
Second, pay special attention to the date and amount. The date must be written next year, month, and day to avoid leaving legal loopholes. The amount must be clearly marked with numbers and Chinese characters to avoid mistakes or being used by others.
Finally, double-check the contents of the IOU to make sure there are no errors. You can check it multiple times, or even ask someone else to check it for help to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the IOU.
In general, borrowing is a sensitive matter in itself, and we must be careful. This is especially true when writing IOUs, where the negligence of any detail can lead to unnecessary trouble. Therefore, no matter who you lend money to, you must pay attention to these three words when writing an IOU, otherwise if you don't get a dollar back, it will outweigh the loss!