83 Mo. App. 466 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1900
Plaintiff borrowed of defendant, a building and loan association, the sum of three hundred dollars for a period of one hundred months. He secured the loan by a deed of trust on real estate in Jasper county and by his certificate of stock in said association as collateral. After payments on stock, interest and premium through a series of years, and desiring to discharge the balance of his indebtedness, he found himself unable to agree with the company as to the amount due it and brought this action to redeem,
Here, the plaintiff borrowed three hundred dollars for a period, of onehundredmonths. His payments were to be $1.50 per month on his stock; $1.50 per month for interest and $1.50 per month for premium or bonus for the privilege of getting the loan. This premium, which, together with the interest, making more than a lawful rate of interest (being paid to the loaner) would, in any ordinary case be termed a plain case of usury. But, as we have already said, in the case of building and loan associations the statute allows the extraordinary privilege of charging such premium or bonus, provided the charge is the result of competitive bids by the would-be borrowers. In this case, the court has found that there was no such sale of the privilege of borrowing. On the other hand, defendant, an organization with a residence or situs in Hannibal, Missouri, had at Webb City, where the -plaintiff resides, a board known as a “local board” which received applications and made the preliminary arrangements for loans. This board informed plaintiff, without any bid and before any opportunity for bidding, that the loan would be made for a bonus of $1.50 per month — no more, no less— and it was so understood and agreed. We can not distinguish this case, in effect, from those of Moore v. B. & L. Ass’n, 74 Mo. App. 468, and Price v. Empire Loan Ass’n, 75 Mo. App. 551; and on the authority of those cases, together with Brown v. Archer, supra ,the circuit court could do nothing less than it did on the facts found.
In this connection, we note defendant’s contention that plaintiff’s bid was sent in to the main office of the association and was there considered and submitted in competition with other bids, but the trial court’s finding on the facts is based on ample evidence to sustain it and, as above stated, we accept the finding as true.
The judgment is affirmed.