(a) No person shall engage in the business of lending in amounts of seventy-five hundred dollars or less and contract for, exact or receive directly or indirectly, or in connection with any such loan, any charges, whether for interest, compensation, consideration or expense, which in the aggregate are greater than the interest rate permitted by the general usury statute, except as provided in and authorized by this chapter and without first having obtained a license from the Board.
(b) This chapter does not apply to any person doing business under authority of and as permitted by any law of this State or of the United States relating to banks, savings and loan associations, savings banks, trust companies, insurance companies, credit unions or licensed pawnbrokers; and does not apply to loans made to a corporation.
(c) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall apply to any person who seeks to avoid its application by any device, subterfuge or pretense whatsoever.
(d) Any contract of loan, the making or collecting of which violates subsection (a) of this section shall be void and the lender shall have no right to collect, receive or retain any principal, interest or charges whatsoever, except in the case of bona fide error.
(e) Any person and the several members, officers, directors, agents and employees thereof, who shall knowingly or wilfully violate or participate in the violation of any of the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and not less than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 8-798; 1956 (49) 2052, 2967; 1957 (50) 339; 1966 (54) 2391.