McCarthy v. First Nat. Bank of Rapid City

Citations

• 223 U.S. 493
• 32 S. Ct. 240
• 56 L. Ed. 523
• 1912 U.S. LEXIS 2250

Syllabus

<p>The two-year limitation in Rev. Stat., § 5198, within which an action must be commenced against a national bank to recover double the amount of payments of usurious interest, begins to run from the time of payment of . the usurious interest, and not from the time of payment of the note.</p> <p>National banks are prohibited from making usurious contracts, and whenever the debtor is sued on such a contract, he may plead the usury and be relieved from payment; as to this defense there is no statute of limitations.</p> <p>Where a national bank reserves or deducts usurious interest in advance, the debtor may plead usury, but may not recover double the amount paid under § 5198, Rev. Stat.</p> <p>When the debtor actually makes, and' the national bank knowingly receives and appropriates, a payment of usurious interest, the cause of action arises and the statute begins to run.</p> <p>There is no locus penitential. That privilege is only granted to those banks which, having charged usury, may by refusal to accept interest when tendered show that they will not carry the illegal contract into effect.</p>