Consumer Credit Regulation: 7.2.1.1 Introduction
Usury is a statutory offense rather than an infraction of common law, and principles of statutory construction come into play in the many cases where the controlling usury statutes are vague or ambiguous. Unfortunately, the misunderstood history of usury has created confusion as to how one important principle of statutory construction applies—that statutes in derogation of common law are to be strictly construed.