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Alamo Lumber And Texas Usury Law: Playing With Fire In The Usury Forest., Terry W. Wright, W. Alan Wright, Scott G. Night

St. Mary's Law Journal

The effect of Alamo Lumber Co. v. Gold, and later cases interpreting third party assumption of debt as interest can be perilous to lenders. Lenders are in the business of offering loans to make money. Lenders achieve profit maximization by charging as much interest as possible in the market. Although economic and market factors are always considerations in a lender’s business, in Texas, lenders must also consider harsh usury laws that restrain the maximum amount of chargeable loan interest. Texas defines interest broadly. Statutes define interest as the receipt of compensation for the detention, forbearance or use of money. The …