Freie v. No. 4 Fidelity Building & Savings Union

Defendant in error filed its bill to foreclose a mortgage given to it by plaintiffs in error, J. Henry Freie and Caroline Freie, his wife. The bill alleged that said J. Henry Freie, one of complainant’s members and stockholders, borrowed from it $3000 on thirty-six shares of its stock, giving his note for said sum and securing it by the mortgage. The defendants by their answer admitted every material averment of fact, but set up as a defense that the note and mortgage were usurious, because they provided for a premium at seven per cent per annum and for fines, in addition to interest at six…