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Loan Agreement Template

A loan agreement records a loan between a lender and a borrower — the principal, the interest, a repayment schedule, any security, and what happens if a payment is missed. Unlike a promissory note, it is bilateral: the lender takes on obligations too, so both parties sign. Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the field-by-field checklist first, including what varies by jurisdiction.

Download the Loan Agreement

A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 10 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for both parties. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.

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Need the other party to sign it too? Send it for signature with a full audit trail and a tamper-evident seal on the finished file — they never need an account. See pricing.

This is a template, not legal advice

This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.

Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.

Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.

This kind of document is regulated differently almost everywhere. Many places require specific notices, disclosures or statutory wording, and some make clauses like these unenforceable outright. Treat this template as a starting point to take to a local lawyer, not as a document to sign as-is.

What to include in a loan agreement

  • Lender & borrower names and addresses

    Full legal names and addresses for both parties — this is a bilateral agreement, so both sign, unlike a one-sided promissory note.

  • Principal amount and disbursement

    The exact sum being lent, how it will be paid to the borrower, and by when — the loan does not exist as a document until this is disbursed on the stated terms.

  • Interest rate and calculation method

    The rate, and whether it is simple or compounding — stated as a term the parties set, not a specific cap, because the maximum legal rate varies by jurisdiction (see below).

  • Repayment schedule

    The number of instalments, the amount of each, and when they fall due, plus how prepayment is treated if the borrower wants to pay early.

  • Late payment terms

    A grace period and a late fee, so a single missed date does not by itself decide whether the loan is in default.

  • Security or collateral, if any

    Whether the loan is secured against specific property, and if so what — plus a reminder that granting security and legally perfecting it (filing, registration) are two different steps.

  • Events of default and remedies

    What counts as a default (missed payment, insolvency, breach of a representation) and what the lender can do about it, including accelerating the full balance.

  • Governing law, jurisdiction and signatures

    Which jurisdiction's law controls the agreement and its enforceability, and both parties' dated signatures.

The structure of a loan is universal. The interest rate you can legally charge, and how you secure it, is not.

Every loan agreement, everywhere, needs the same skeleton: a principal amount, a disbursement, a repayment schedule, and a plan for what happens if a payment is missed. That structure — reflected in the template above — doesn't change based on where the parties are.

Two things layered on top of that structure do change by jurisdiction, and both can make an otherwise ordinary loan agreement unenforceable if you get them wrong. The first is usury law: the maximum interest rate a lender may charge is set state by state and country by country, often with different limits for consumer loans versus commercial ones, and it changes over time — a rate that's ordinary between two businesses in one place can be illegal to charge an individual borrower in another. This template intentionally states the rate as a term the parties fill in, not as a pre-printed cap, because printing one number would be wrong somewhere.

The second is security. If the loan is secured against collateral, naming that collateral in the agreement creates a security interest between the lender and borrower — but making that interest enforceable against other creditors or a buyer (perfecting it) is a separate legal step, done through a filing or registration system that's specific to the type of collateral and where it's located (a UCC financing statement in the US, a PPSA-style registry in many other common-law countries, or a local land registry for real property). Signing this agreement does not, by itself, complete that step.

Treat this template as the general-purpose record of the loan's terms, and confirm the interest-rate limit and any required security filing with a lawyer or the relevant local registry before you rely on it alone.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Writing in a specific interest-rate cap as if it applies everywhere. Usury limits are set locally and vary widely — a rate that is ordinary in one place can be unenforceable, or make the whole loan void, in another. State the rate the parties agreed and confirm it against local law separately; don't assume a number you've seen elsewhere is safe to reuse.
  • Confusing a loan agreement with a promissory note. A promissory note is a one-sided instrument — the borrower's unconditional promise to pay, signed by the borrower alone, with no lender covenants. A loan agreement is bilateral: it obliges the lender to disburse and sets out both parties' duties, and both sign it.
  • Describing collateral without perfecting the security interest. Naming collateral in the agreement grants a security interest between the parties, but it doesn't, by itself, protect the lender against other creditors or a later buyer — that requires the filing or registration step (a UCC financing statement in the US, or the local equivalent elsewhere), done separately and correctly for where the collateral sits.
  • Leaving default undefined until a payment is actually missed. Without a stated grace period, cure period and list of default events, the parties end up arguing over whether a single late payment is a breach at all — define it up front instead.
  • Skipping the disbursement details. A loan agreement that never says how or when the principal actually moves from lender to borrower is missing the one fact that turns the promise into an actual loan.

Get your loan agreement signed

Fill in the template above and send it to the other party for signature with a free Evenseal account — 3 documents a month, no card required. Only need your own copy signed? Self-sign for free with no account at /sign-pdf.

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Not legal advice — interest-rate limits and security-filing requirements vary by jurisdiction; check local law or a qualified lawyer before relying on this template alone.

Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum interest rate I can charge on a loan?+
It depends entirely on where the loan is made and the law that governs it. Usury laws set maximum interest rates, and they vary by state and by country — some places distinguish between consumer and commercial loans, some set different caps for licensed lenders versus individuals, and the numbers change over time. This template deliberately does not print a specific rate cap, because stating one as if it applied everywhere would itself be wrong somewhere. Check the current limit that applies to your loan before agreeing on a rate.
What is the difference between a loan agreement and a promissory note?+
A promissory note is a one-sided instrument — an unconditional promise by the borrower to pay a stated sum, signed by the borrower alone, with no obligations on the lender written into it. A loan agreement is bilateral: it obliges the lender to actually disburse the principal and sets out terms that bind both sides — interest, repayment, security, default and remedies — and both parties sign it. Use a loan agreement when you want the lender's disbursement obligation and both parties' duties spelled out in one document; use a promissory note when you just need the borrower's payment promise on record. Promissory Note Template.
Do I need to register or file anything if the loan is secured?+
Usually yes, if you want the security interest to be effective against anyone other than the borrower. Naming collateral in the agreement creates a security interest between the lender and borrower, but perfecting it — making it enforceable against other creditors or a later buyer — normally requires a separate filing or registration step, such as a UCC financing statement in the US or the equivalent registry elsewhere. How and where to file depends on the type of collateral and the borrower's location, so confirm the correct process locally rather than assuming the agreement alone is enough.
What happens if the borrower misses a payment?+
That depends on what the agreement itself says, which is why this template includes a defined grace period, a late fee, and a separate list of events of default with cure periods. A single late payment that's cured within the grace period is different from a default that lets the lender accelerate the whole outstanding balance — spelling out the difference in the document avoids arguing over it after the fact.
Is an e-signed loan agreement legally binding?+
Generally, yes — a loan agreement signed electronically carries the same legal weight as one signed on paper under laws like the US ESIGN Act and UETA. That said, some jurisdictions and some lender types (regulated consumer lenders, for example) have additional disclosure or documentation rules on top of the basic signature requirement, so check whether any of those apply to your loan before relying on an e-signature alone. Are electronic signatures legally binding?.
Can I send this to the other party to sign online?+
Yes. Download the template above, fill in the blanks, then send it for signature with a free Evenseal account — no card required. If you only need your own copy signed, you can self-sign for free with no account at all. Create a free account.

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