Criminal usury in the second degree · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 190.40 Criminal usury in the second degree.
A person is guilty of criminal usury in the second degree when, not being authorized or permitted by law to do so, he knowingly charges, takes or receives any money or other property as interest on the loan or forebearance of any money or other property, at a rate exceeding twenty-five per centum per annum or the equivalent rate for a longer or shorter period.
Criminal usury in the second degree is a class E felony.
An unauthorized lender commits second-degree criminal usury by knowingly charging, taking, or receiving interest above 25% per year or the equivalent rate for a longer or shorter period. ★ It is a class E felony.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.