The legal interest rate is set for all matters by order of the Minister for the Economy. It comprises a rate applicable when the creditor is a natural person not acting for business purposes and a rate applicable in all other cases. It is calculated every six months on the basis of the European Central Bank’s key rate for main refinancing operations and the rates charged by credit institutions and…
In the event of a pecuniary judgement, the legal interest rate is increased by five points at the end of a period of two months from the date on which the judgement becomes enforceable, even if it is provisional. This effect is attached ipso jure to the judgment of auction on seizure of property, four months after it is delivered. However, the enforcement judge may, at the request of the…
Articles L. 314-1 to L. 314-5, L. 341-48-1 and L. 341-49 of the French Consumer Code set out the rules governing the overall effective rate for loans.
The definition of the usury rate is set out in articles L. 314-6 to L. 314-9 of the French Consumer Code, reproduced below: “Art. L. 314-6- A usurious loan is any contractual loan granted at an overall effective rate which, at the time it is granted, exceeds by more than one third the average effective rate charged during the previous quarter by credit institutions and finance companies for transactions of…
For account overdrafts, a usurious loan to a natural person acting for business purposes or to a legal person engaged in an industrial, commercial, craft, agricultural or non-commercial professional activity is any contractual loan granted at an overall effective rate which, at the time it is granted, exceeds by more than one third the average effective rate charged during the previous quarter by credit institutions or finance companies for transactions…
Where a contractual loan is usurious, the excessive sums collected in accordance with articles L. 313-4 and L. 313-5-1 are automatically deducted from the normal interest and, subsidiarily, from the principal of the debt. If the principal and interest of the claim are extinguished, the sums unduly collected must be returned with statutory interest from the day they were paid.
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is a Registered Trademark of
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182, rue de Rivoli
75001, Paris France
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is a Registered Trademark of
PETROFF LAW FIRM (SELARL LEGASTRAT)
182, rue de Rivoli
75001, Paris France
RCS Paris n°814433470
Paris Bar Registration n° (Toque) C2396
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