Commercial Mortgage & Finance Co. v. Life Savings of America

The plaintiff, Commercial Mortgage & Finance Company (Commercial Mortgage), filed a complaint in the circuit court of Winnebago County to foreclose a mortgage which secured a loan that it had made to the defendants, J. David Olson (Olson) and Mary Ann Olson. In their answer, the Olsons claimed, as an affirmative defense, that the loan in question was usurious. Following a bench trial, the circuit judge ruled in favor of Commercial Mortgage and entered a decree of foreclosure. The Olsons appealed from the trial court’s decision, and the appellate court, with one justice dissenting, reversed.…