Private loan agreement between individuals (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
A loan agreement under German law for money lent between private individuals — friends, family or acquaintances. It sets out the amount, payment by bank transfer, the interest or an interest-free loan, repayment in one sum or in instalments, early repayment, default interest under § 288 of the German Civil Code (BGB) and the three months' notice of § 488 BGB where no date is fixed. For private lenders only: a business lending to a consumer falls under consumer-credit law. In German, no set form — print, both sign, each keeps a copy.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Lender
- Lender's date of birth
- Lender's address
- Borrower
- Borrower's date of birth
- Borrower's address
- Amount
- Amount in words
- Date the loan is paid out
- Borrower's bank account (IBAN)
- Annual interest rate (0% if the loan is interest-free)
- Payment terms
- Early repayment of the loan
- Lender's bank account
- Additional terms
- City
- Date
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Does a private loan in Germany need a set form or a notary?
- No. A loan between private individuals is valid without any form, even orally (§ 488 BGB); it needs no notary, no registration and no duty on the contract. The written agreement is there for proof: it shows the money was lent, not given, and on what terms. Pay the sum by bank transfer so the payment is on record; if you hand over cash, have the borrower sign a receipt.
- When must a private loan in Germany be repaid if no date was agreed?
- Then it falls due once the lender or the borrower gives notice, and the notice period is three months (§ 488(3) BGB). An interest-free loan may be repaid by the borrower at any time without notice. Make sure the notice provably reaches the other side — for example by a messenger who reads the letter and witnesses it going into the letterbox. A date or an instalment plan in the agreement is better: a borrower who then fails to pay is in default without any reminder (§ 286(2) no. 1 BGB).
- How much interest may a private lender in Germany charge?
- There is no statutory cap, but there is the limit of public policy (§ 138 BGB): interest about double the market rate, or around 12 percentage points above it, is as a rule usurious. The whole interest clause then falls away — a court does not cut it back to the market rate, as the Higher Regional Court of Schleswig held in May 2026 for a private loan at 200 % a year. So choose a rate close to what banks charge for comparable loans, or 0 %.
- Does German consumer-credit law apply to a private loan?
- No, as long as the lender is a private individual. The consumer-loan rules (§§ 491 ff. BGB) apply only when a business lends money to a consumer; the law then requires written form, mandatory information and a right of withdrawal. This agreement is therefore meant for private lenders only, and records that both sides act privately. Anyone who lends as a business or in the course of self-employed work cannot use it; the consumer-credit reform in force from 20 November 2026 does not change that.
- What are the tax points of an interest-free family loan in Germany?
- The tax office treats the interest saved as a gift. It is valued at 5.5 % of the sum a year (§ 15(1) of the Valuation Act, BewG) unless you show a lower market rate for comparable loans (Federal Fiscal Court, 31 July 2024, II R 20/22). The benefit counts against the gift-tax allowances, which vary with the degree of kinship. If, instead, you agree interest, the lender must pay tax on it as investment income.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
Related documents
- Notice closing a current account (Germany)
A letter to a German bank or savings bank (Sparkasse) closing your current account (Girokonto), whether you are leaving altogether or switching to a new bank. It gives the IBAN, the account holder and date of birth, the closing date you want and the account for the remaining balance, ends the linked cards, overdraft and online banking, and asks for written confirmation. Under § 675h of the German Civil Code (BGB) you may close the account at any time without notice, unless a notice period of at most one month was agreed, and closing is free. A choice covers switching through the statutory switching service (§§ 20 ff. ZKG). In German.
- Asking your bank to refund a direct debit or cancel a standing order (Germany)
A letter to your German bank or Sparkasse to refund a direct debit, stop a debit that has been announced, refuse a payee's future debits, or cancel a standing order. A SEPA core direct debit can be reclaimed within eight weeks of the debit with no reason given (§ 675x of the German Civil Code, BGB), and a debit taken without a valid mandate up to 13 months later (§§ 675u, 676b BGB). A standing order or an announced debit can be revoked until the end of the business day before it is carried out (§ 675p BGB). With the payee, mandate reference, amount and date. In German.
- Revoking a SEPA direct debit mandate (Germany)
A letter to the payee — a gym, insurer, club, mail-order shop or debt collector in Germany — revoking your SEPA direct debit mandate (formerly Einzugsermächtigung). It gives the mandate reference, the creditor identifier and your IBAN, forbids further debits from receipt, and says how payment continues: you will pay by transfer, the contract has ended, or you will pay from another account. Revoking the mandate ends neither the contract nor what you owe. If a debit still arrives, your bank refunds a SEPA core direct debit within eight weeks, no reason needed (§ 675x of the German Civil Code, BGB). In German.
- Instalment payment agreement between individuals (Germany)
An agreement under German law in which a private creditor lets a debtor pay off an outstanding sum in monthly instalments — a private loan, a deposit or damage, for instance. It confirms the debt and sets the number, amount and due dates of the instalments, no interest while payments are on time, the whole balance falling due after two missed instalments, and default interest under § 288 of the German Civil Code (BGB). For private creditors only: where a business grants a consumer instalments, consumer-credit law may apply (§ 506 BGB). In German, to be signed by both.
- Refund of an unauthorised payment or card chargeback — letter to your bank (Germany)
Your letter to your own bank in Germany when your account or card was charged without your consent — after card fraud or phishing, say. You dispute the transactions and demand the refund, which the bank must make by the end of the next business day at the latest (§ 675u of the German Civil Code, BGB). Report without delay and at most 13 months after the debit (§ 676b BGB). If you paid by card yourself but received nothing, the letter instead asks for a chargeback under the card scheme's rules. With the blocking date and the police report. In German.
- Application to a bank ombudsman or conciliation body (Germany)
An application for conciliation when your German bank or Sparkasse has not resolved your complaint — to the Ombudsman of the private banks, the conciliation body of the savings banks' association (DSGV) or a regional one, the BVR's complaints office for cooperative banks, or the conciliation body at the Deutsche Bundesbank. It names the bank, the contract, your complaint and its outcome, sets out the dispute and the sum claimed, and makes the usual declarations. With the private banks' Ombudsman the procedure is free for consumers, and the decision binds the bank up to €10,000. In German.