Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 82.djvu/203

 82 STAT. ]

PUBLIC LAW 90-321-MAY 29, 1968

161

"(2) The extension of credit was made at a rate of interest in excess of an annual rate of 45 per centum calculated according to the actuarial method of allocating payments made on a debt between principal and interest, pursuant to which a payment is applied first to the accumulated interest and the balance is applied to the unpaid principal. "(o) A t the time the extension of credit was made, the debtor reasonably believed that either " (A) one or more extensions of credit by the creditor had been collec^ted or 'attempted to be collected by extortionate means, or the nonrepayment thereof had been punished by extortionate means; or " (B) the creditor had a reputation for the use of extortionate means to collect extensions of credit or to punish the nonrepayment thereof. " (4) Upon the making of the extension of credit, the total of the extensions of credit by the creditor to the debtor then outstanding, including any unpaid interest or similar charges, exceeded $100. " (c) In any prosecution under this section, if evidence has been introduced tending to show the existence of any of the circumstances described in subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2), and direct evidence of the actual belief of the debtor as to the creditor's collection practices is not available, then for the purpose of showing the understanding of the debtor and the creditor at the time the extension of credit was made, the court may in its discretion allow evidence to be introduced tending to show the reputation as to collection practices of the creditor in any community of which the debtor was a member at the time of the extension. "§893. Financing extortionate extensions of credit ''Whoever willfully advances money or property, whether as a gift. as a loan, as an investment, pursuant to a partnership or profit-sharing agreement, or otherwise, to any person, with reasonable grounds to believe that it is the intention of that person to use the money or property so advanced directly or indirectly for the purpose of making extortionate extensions of credit, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or an amount not exceeding twice the value of the money or property so advanced, whichever is greater, or shall be imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. "§894. Collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means " (a) Whoever knowingly participates in any way, or conspires to do so, in the use of any extortionate means "(1) to collect or attempt to collect any extension of credit, or " (2) to punish any person for the nonrepayment thereof, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. " (b) In any prosecution under this section, for the purpose of showing an implicit threat as a means of collection, evidence may be introduced tending to show that one or more extensions of credit by the creditor were, to the knowledge of the person against whom the implicit threat was alleged to have been made, collected or attempted to be collected by extortionate means or that the nonrepayment thereof was punished by extortionate means. "(c) I n any prosecution under this section, if evidence has been introduced tending to show the existence, at the time the extension of credit in question was made, of the circumstances described in section 892(b)(1) or the circumstances described in section 892(b)(2), and direct evidence of the actual belief of the debtor as to the creditor's

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