2014 Rhode Island General Laws
Title 6 - Commercial Law – General Regulatory Provisions
Chapter 6-26 - Interest and Usury
Section 6-26-4 - Usurious contracts – Penalty.

§ 6-26-4 Usurious contracts – Penalty. – (a) Every contract made in violation of any of the provisions of § 6-26-2, and every mortgage, pledge, deposit, or assignment made or given as security for the performance of the contract, shall be usurious and void.

(b) Nothing contained in this section shall affect the rights of an endorsee or transferee of a negotiable instrument who purchases the instrument before maturity, for value, and without notice of its usurious character.

(c) Nothing contained in this section shall affect the rights, duties or liabilities of any persons acting under the provisions of title 19, and if the borrower shall, either before or after suit, make any payment on the contract, either of principal or interest, or of any part of either, and whether to the lender or to any assignee, endorsee, or transferee of the contract, the borrower shall be entitled to recover from the lender the amount so paid in an action of the case. Receipts shall be given whenever payments are made of either principal or interest.

(d) The provisions previously stated in this section shall not apply to any financial institution and its subsidiaries, credit union, or bank holding company and its subsidiaries, organized under the laws of the state; any other entity regulated by the department of business regulation; a national bank and its subsidiaries; federal savings and loan association or federal credit union; or a bank, company, or association collectively and individually referred to as a regulated financial institution. In the event a regulated financial institution knowingly contracts or charges a usurious rate of interest in violation of any of the provisions of § 6-26-2, it shall forfeit the entire interest on the debt. In case the usurious rate of interest has been paid, the person by whom it has been paid, or his or her legal representative, may recover from the regulated financial institution in an action in the nature of an action on the debt, twice the amount of the interest so paid, provided that the action is commenced within two (2) years from the time the usurious transaction occurred.

History of Section.
(P.L. 1909, ch. 434, § 3; G.L. 1923, ch. 228, § 9; G.L. 1938, ch. 485, § 4; G.L. 1956, § 6-26-4; P.L. 1982, ch. 437, § 1; P.L. 1995, ch. 82, § 58; P.L. 2014, ch. 528, § 15.)