Supreme Court of Florida, 1935

Hopkins v. Otto

Supreme Court of Florida · Decided March 21, 1935 · Whitfield, Brown, Davis, Ellis, Terrell, Buford

160 So. 203; 118 Fla. 865; 1935 Fla. LEXIS 1787 (Southern Reporter)

Cases that cite this one

7 later published cases cite this decision. The 6 that cite it most often are listed here.

Magee v. Crown Corporation (Fla. 1942)
Conner Air Lines, Inc. v. Aviation Credit Corp. (5th Cir. 1960)
Brumick v. Morris (Fla. 1938)
Enstrom v. Dunning (Fla. 1936)
The Richter Jewelry Co. v. Schweinert (Fla. 1935)
Pushee v. Johnson (Fla. 1936)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam.

This appeal is from a decree dismissing a suit to enforce a mortgage lien, the note and mortgage being for $1,500.00 due in three years with interest at 8% per annum payable semi-annually. Usury was a defense. A commission of $75.00 was paid from the amount of the note to an employee in the lender’s office which the Chancellor in effect held was in the nature of a bonus to the lender. Only $1,425.00 was received by the borrower, even if the lender should not have paid a charge of $30.00 for title insurance on the mortgaged property.' Foreclosure was begun at the end of two years under the acceleration provision of the mortgage.

Without the charge of $30.00 for title insurance on the *866 mortgaged property, the $75.00 bonus reserved together with the interest charged rendered the loan usurious.

In Wilson v. Connor, 106 Fla. 6, 142 So. 606, the first year’s interest and the bonus were both reserved when the loan was made.

Whitfield, C. J., and Brown and Davis, J. J., concur. Ellis, P. J., and Terrell and Buford, J. J., concur in the opinion and judgment.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.