100,000 Yuan Loan Without Written Interest Term: Court Denies 72,000 Yuan Interest Claim for Lack of Evidence

A lender who claimed 72,000 yuan in interest on a 100,000 yuan loan was denied the interest portion of his claim after the court found no written evidence of any interest agreement, despite his assertion that the parties had orally agreed to a monthly rate of two percent.

In November 2008, the borrower received 100,000 yuan from the lender and signed a simple handwritten receipt confirming the amount. The receipt contained no interest provision, maturity date, or repayment schedule. The lender claimed the parties had orally agreed to a monthly interest rate of two percent and that the borrower had paid three months of interest before stopping all payments.

The lender sued in March 2012, seeking repayment of the 100,000 yuan principal plus 72,000 yuan in accumulated interest calculated from February 2009 through February 2012 at the claimed monthly rate. The borrower was properly summoned but failed to appear at trial, waiving the right to challenge the evidence.

The court confirmed the debt based on the signed receipt, which clearly documented the loan amount. However, it rejected the interest claim entirely. The receipt contained no written interest term, and the lender provided no corroborating evidence such as bank transfer records of interest payments, witness testimony, or any secondary documentation supporting the alleged oral agreement. Under the relevant contract law provision, a loan between natural persons without a written interest agreement is presumed to bear no interest, and the burden of proving an oral interest term falls on the party asserting it.

The court ordered repayment of the 100,000 yuan principal within thirty days, with double interest on delayed payments. The 3,740 yuan court fee was reduced to 1,870 yuan under simplified procedure, with the lender bearing 720 yuan for the rejected interest portion and the borrower bearing 1,150 yuan for the principal debt.