Amendment to Act No. 2655 (Usury Law, as Amended)

December 5, 1932

ACT NO. 3998

AN ACT TO AMEND ACT NUMBERED TWENTY-SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE, AS AMENDED, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE USURY LAW

 Section three of Act Numbered Twenty-six hundred and fifty-five is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 3. No person or corporation shall directly or indirectly demand, take, receive or agree to charge in money or other property, real or personal, a higher rate or greater sum or value for the loan or forbearance of money, goods, or credits, where such loan or forbearance is not secured as provided in section two hereof, than fourteen per centum per annum. " AcHaTE

 Section four of Act Numbered Twenty-six hundred and fifty-five, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4. No pawnbroker or pawnbroker's agent shall directly or indirectly stipulate, charge, demand, take or receive any higher rate or greater sum or value for any loan or forbearance than two and one-half per centum per month when the sum lent is less than one hundred pesos; two per centum per month when the sum lent is one hundred pesos or more, but not exceeding five hundred pesos, and fourteen per centum per annum when it is more than the amount last mentioned. A pawnbroker or pawnbroker's agent shall be considered such, for the benefits of this Act, only if he be duly licensed and has an establishment open to the public.

"It shall be unlawful for a pawnbroker or pawnbroker's agent to divide the pawn offered by a person into two or more fractions in order to collect greater interest than that permitted by this section.

"It shall also be unlawful for a pawnbroker or pawnbroker's agent to require the pawner to pay an additional charge as insurance premium for the safekeeping and conservation of the article pawned."

SECTION 3. Section six of Act Numbered Twenty-six hundred and fifty-five, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 6. Any person or corporation who, for any such loan or renewal thereof or forbearance, shall have paid or delivered a higher rate or greater sum or value than is hereinbefore allowed to be taken or received, may recover the whole interest, commissions, premiums penalties and surcharges paid or delivered with costs and attorneys' fees in such sum as may be allowed by the court in an action against the person or corporation who took or received them if such action is brought within two years after such payment or delivery: Provided, however, That the creditor shall not be obliged to return the interest, commissions and premiums for a period of not more than one year collected by him in advance when the debtor shall have paid the obligation before it is due, provided such interest, and commissions and premiums do not exceed the rates fixed in this Act."

 Section seven of Act Numbered Twenty-six hundred and fifty-five, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 7. All covenants and stipulations contained in conveyances, mortgages, bonds, bills, notes, and other contracts or evidences of debts, and all deposits of goods or other things, whereupon or whereby there shall be stipulated, charged, demanded, reserved, secured, taken, or received, directly or indirectly, a higher rate or greater sum or value for the loan or renewal thereof or forbearance of money, goods, or credits than is hereinbefore allowed, shall be void: Provided, however, That no merely clerical error in the computation of interest, made without intent to evade any of the provisions of this Act, shall render a contract void: And provided, further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the purchase by an innocent purchaser of a negotiable mercantile paper, usurious or otherwise, for valuable consideration before maturity, when there has been no intent on the part of said purchaser to evade the provisions of this Act and said purchase was not a part of the original usurious transaction. In any case, however, the maker of said note shall have the right to recover from said original holder the whole interest paid by him thereon and, in case of litigation, also the costs and such attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court."

 Section ten of Act Numbered Twenty-six hundred and fifty-five, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 10. Without prejudice to the proper civil action, violation of this Act shall be subject to criminal prosecution and the guilty person shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to a fine of not less than fifty pesos nor more than five hundred pesos, or to imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court, and to return the entire sum received as interest from the party aggrieved, and in case of nonpayment, to suffer subsidiary imprisonment at the rate of one day for every two pesos: Provided, That in case of corporations, associations, societies or companies the manager, administrator or gerente or the person who has charge of the management or administration of the business shall be criminally responsible for any violation of this Act."

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: December 5, 1932