Bennett v. Eastern Building & Loan Ass'n

Citations

• 177 Pa. 233
• 35 A. 684
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 969

Syllabus

<p>Contract — Conflict of laws — Usury—Lex loci contractus.</p> <p>A resident of Pennsylvania became a member of a New York building and loan association. His application for membership was made to an agent of the association in Pennsylvania. He subsequently applied and received a loan from the association. The application for membership and the application for the loan recited the name of the association and the city in New York where it did business. The applicant signed sixty-seven promissory notes payable to the association, and executed a bond in which it was recited that the notes were payable to the association at its office in New York. A mortgage executed to secure the notes and bonds repeated the name and designation of the association, and its place of business, and recited the bond with its condition for making all the payments at the office of the association in New York. In his application the applicant agreed to abide by the by-laws of the association. Held, (1) that the contract was one to pay money in New York; (2) that the contract was subject to the New York law which permitted building associations to charge usurious interest; (3) that the mere fact that the loan was made to a citizen of Pennsylvania could not justify an inference that it was done with an intent to evade the usury laws of Pennsylvania.</p>