Davidson

The plaintiff brought suit upon a promissory note executed by the defendants, husband and wife, bearing interest at the rate of five per cent per month. Defendant C. Rafael filed her answer, in which she set up the defenses of payment, want of consideration, and false pretenses used in obtaining her signature to the obligation. The court found all these issues in favor of the plaintiff, but also found that the contract to pay interest at the rate of five per cent per month was unreasonable, \ unconscionable, and usurious. Accordingly, in arriving at the amount due to the plaintiff the court allowed interest on the principal of the note at the rate of two per cent per month from the time interest was payable; and it appearing that the defendant had paid, during a period of about two years, interest at the higher rate, the court credited three-fifths of the sum thus paid as interest, namely, three per cent per month, on the principal of the note, and entered judgment for the plaintiff for the balance.

The note in suit being unsecured, and there having been no showing in the court below that the plaintiff was a personal property broker, and therefore subject to the provisions of the…