Opinion ID: 544790
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Usury Portion of the Class Action

Text: 10 The loans were evidenced by form notes that had blank spaces for the entry of information concerning the date, secured property address, loan amount, lender's name, annual interest rates, amount of monthly payment, due date for each such payment, place of making payments, amount of late charge, and date of accompanying security deed. Borrowers were also given TILA disclosure statements, of which the named plaintiffs received two different forms which, however, were substantially the same. Each borrower was also given a settlement statement that contained a breakdown of the way in which the principal amount of their loan was to be distributed and for what purpose. If a borrower requested an itemization of the amount financed, they would be provided with a form headed Amount Financed Itemization that had spaces for the amount financed, the amount to be given directly to the borrower, the amount to be retained by the lender as discount points, the amount to be paid ostensibly on the borrower's account, and the amounts to be paid to others ostensibly on the borrower's behalf. The pre-paid finance charge was broken down into its component parts consisting of loan discount, service charge, mortgage guarantee insurance, and appraisal fee. The only significant item of these statements was the amount of the discount points which, as indicated above, usually ran between 20 to 40 points.