Court Opinion

ID: 9764277
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:17:54.031636+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:55.407839
License: Public Domain

ROBERTSON, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the Court’s holding.
It will generally be presumed in cases such as this that the parties intended a non-usurious contract. “The contract under construction will not be found usurious on its face unless it expressly entitles the lender, upon the happening of a contingency or otherwise to exact interest at a greater rate than that allowed by law.” Smart v. Tower Land and Investment Company, 597 S.W.2d 333, 341 (Tex.1980). In the Tower Land and Investment Company case, this Court was asked to construe a note which provided for the advance payment of interest for the first six years, followed by payments of the principal amount, with an acceleration clause allowing for the maturity of the note on default. Although the note provided that in the event of acceleration there would be no obligation to refund any of the interest, it was silent as to whether interest could be credited to unpaid balance. The note was therefore susceptible to a legal construction. See Smart v. Tower Land and Investment Company, 582 S.W.2d 543 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1979) rev’d 597 S.W.2d 333 (Tex.1980). This Court nevertheless held the note usurious on the ground that it expressed an intent to allow the payee or holder on acceleration to retain the excess unearned interest. 597 S.W.2d at 341.
In contrast, the Court in Belzung v. Capital Bank, 598 S.W.2d 14 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1980, writ ref’d n.r.e.) was faced with two conflicting acceleration clauses in a note, one which was clearly usurious and the other which was not. Under that set of facts, the note was properly construed to be nonusurious. The case at bar is distinguishable, involving three different clauses in three different instruments. The building contract is arguably non-usurious, although even this conclusion is doubtful. The other two instruments, the installment note and mechanic’s lien, are usurious. By its own terms, the building contract looks to the installment note and anticipates certain covenants, conditions, and default provisions. The provisions in that note are usurious. Under these facts, I believe the parties contracted for the payment and retention of unearned interest embodied in the monthly installments.