Usury Meaning

What is Usury:

Usury indicates abusive conduct on the part of a lender, usually through the abusive collection of interest or pledge requirements on the original loan.

The word usury comes from Latin, composed of the word usus indicating "right of use" and the suffix -sura that expresses a type of activity. In this sense, usury meant charging for the right to use something that belongs to him, generally money.

Those who practice usury are called usurers. In this sense, usury is considered an immoral attitude, since it takes advantage of those it can for its own benefit.

The practice of usury affects the most vulnerable and becomes a social problem, therefore an ethical one. In this way, laws against usury are created to curb the ambitions of profit at the cost of abuses.

In the biblical sense, usury is mentioned in the book of Exodus as an immoral attitude of achievers, those who seek to profit in any way or form. Usury is associated with greed, one of the capital sins of Christianity.

Usury in law

In the legal field, usury refers to the excessive interest demanded from the debtor of a capital. In many countries, usury is considered a crime stipulated by law.

In the Penal Code of the Federal District of Mexico, for example, article 387, section VIII stipulates the following to define the crime:

"Using the ignorance or poor conditions of a person, obtain usurious advantages from him through contracts or agreements in which merits or profits higher than those usual in the market are stipulated."

Usury and interest

In the Middle Ages, usury was used as a synonym for financial interest, and it was a prohibited practice because it was believed that money should not make money. Despite this, it was a common practice.

Only at the end of the 15th century were the first tables that limited the amounts charged for a given loan, where the main difference between interest and usury arose.

Interest was the fee or rate charged within the values ​​established in the table provided by the Law and usury became the term to refer to the collection of rates above or above the maximum allowed limit.