2012 Hawaii Revised Statutes
TITLE 37. HAWAII PENAL CODE
707. Offenses Against the Person
707-761 Extortionate extension of credit; prima facie evidence.

§707-761 Extortionate extension of credit; prima facie evidence. (1) An extortionate extension of credit is any extension of credit with respect to which it is the understanding of the creditor and the debtor at the time it is made that delay in making repayment or failure to make repayment could result in the use of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the person, reputation, or property of any person.

(2) In any prosecution under this part, if it is shown that all of the following factors were present in connection with the extension of credit in question, there is prima facie evidence that the extension of credit was extortionate, but this section is nonexclusive and in no way limits the effect or applicability of subsection (1):

(a) The repayment of the extension of credit, or the performance of any promise given in consideration thereof, would be unenforceable, through civil judicial processes against the debtor:

(i) In the jurisdiction within which the debtor, if a natural person, resided; or

(ii) In every jurisdiction within which the debtor, if other than a natural person, was incorporated or qualified to do business at the time the extension of credit was made;

(b) The extension of credit was made at a rate of interest in excess of a yearly rate of forty-five per cent calculated according to the actuarial method of allocating payments made on a debt between principal and interest, pursuant to which payment is applied first to the accumulated interest and the balance applied to the unpaid principal;

(c) At the time the extension of credit was made, the debtor reasonably believed that either:

(i) One or more extensions of credit by the creditor had been collected or attempted to be collected by extortionate means, or the nonrepayment thereof had been punished by extortionate means; or

(ii) The creditor had a reputation for the use of extortionate means to collect extensions of credit or to punish the nonrepayment thereof;

(d) Upon the making of the extension of credit, the total of the extensions of credit by the creditor to the debtor then outstanding, including any unpaid interest or similar charges, exceeded $100.

(3) In any prosecution under this part, if evidence has been introduced tending to show the existence of any of the circumstances described in subparagraph (2)(a) or (2)(b) of this section, and direct evidence of the actual belief of the debtor as to the creditor's collection practices is not available, then for the purpose of showing the understanding of the debtor and the creditor at the time the extension of credit was made, the court may in its discretion allow evidence to be introduced tending to show the reputation as to collection practices of the creditor in any community of which the debtor was a member at the time of the extension. [L 1979, c 106, pt of §1; am L 1980, c 232, §38]