(a) Except as otherwise permitted by law, all contracts for the payment of interest upon the loan or forbearance of goods, money, things in action, or upon any contract whatever at a higher rate than is prescribed in this chapter are usurious and cannot be enforced except as to the principal.
Terms Used In Alabama Code 8-8-12
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. Source: OCC
(b) The borrower of money at a usurious rate of interest shall not in any case be required to pay more than the principal sum borrowed, and if any interest has been paid, the same must be deducted from the principal and judgment entered for the balance only; provided, however, that the defense of usury may not be pleaded against a holder in due course of any negotiable instrument.
