Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1 (2026)
Legal rates of interest and finance charges
✓ current as of July 2026
- (1) The legal rate of interest on all notes, accounts and contracts shall be eight percent (8%) per annum, calculated according to the actuarial method, but contracts may be made, in writing, for payment of a finance charge as otherwise provided by this section or as otherwise authorized by law.
- (2) Any borrower or debtor may contract for and agree to pay a finance charge for any loan or other extension of credit made directly or indirectly to a borrower or debtor which will result in a yield not to exceed the greater of ten percent (10%) per annum or five percent (5%) per annum above the discount rate, excluding any surcharge thereon, on ninety-day commercial paper in effect at the Federal Reserve bank in the Federal Reserve district where the lender is located, each calculated according to the actuarial method. The rate of finance charge authorized under this subsection (2) shall be known as the "contract rate."
- (3) Notwithstanding the foregoing and any other provision of law to the contrary, any partnership, joint venture, religious society, unincorporated association, or domestic or foreign corporation, whether organized for profit or nonprofit, may contract for and agree to pay a finance charge which will result in a yield not to exceed the greater of fifteen percent (15%) per annum or five percent (5%) per annum above the discount rate, excluding any surcharge thereon, on ninety-day commercial paper in effect at the Federal Reserve bank in the Federal Reserve district where the lender is located, each calculated according to the actuarial method, on any contract, loan, extension of credit or other obligation under which the principal balance to be repaid shall originally exceed Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00), or on any series of advances of money pursuant to a contract if the aggregate of sums advanced or originally proposed to be advanced shall exceed Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00); and as to any such agreement, the claim or defense of usury by such partnership, joint venture, religious society, unincorporated association, or corporation, or their successors, guarantors, assigns or anyone on their behalf is prohibited.
- (4) Notwithstanding the foregoing and any other provision of law to the contrary, any borrower or debtor may contract for and agree to pay a finance charge which will result in a yield not to exceed the greater of ten percent (10%) per annum or five percent (5%) per annum above the index of market yields of the Monthly Twenty-Year Constant Maturity Index of Long-Term United States Government Bond Yields, as compiled by the United States Treasury Department, each calculated according to the actuarial method, on any loan, mortgage or advance which is secured by a lien on residential real property or by a lien on stock in a residential cooperative housing corporation where the loan, mortgage or advance is used to finance the acquisition of such stock. The term "residential real property," as used in this subsection, means real estate upon which there is located or to be located a structure or structures designed in whole or in part for residential use, or which comprises or includes one or more apartments, condominium units or other dwelling units.
- (5) Notwithstanding the foregoing and any other provision of law to the contrary, any borrower or debtor may contract for and agree to pay and any lender or extender of credit may contract for and receive any finance charge agreed to in writing by the parties, notwithstanding that such charge is in excess of that otherwise allowed on any contract, credit sale, obligation or other extension of credit, regardless of the security taken or the purpose of the extension of credit, under which the principal balance to be repaid originally exceeds Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), or on any series of advances of money pursuant to a contract if the aggregate of sums advanced or originally proposed to be advanced exceeds Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), or on any extension or renewal thereof; and as to any such agreement, the claim or defense of usury or violation of any law prescribing, limiting or regulating the rate of finance charge by any borrower or debtor, or his successors, guarantors, assigns or anyone on his behalf is prohibited.
- (6) Notwithstanding the foregoing and any other provisions of law to the contrary, the outstanding balance of a prior loan or lease of a motor vehicle used as a trade-in, as well as other items that are capitalized or amortized during the lease term, may be included in a lease for a motor vehicle, provided that the rate of finance charge associated with the lease contract does not at any time exceed the finance charge limitations specified in Section 63-19-43.
Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 47, art. 7(2, 3); 1857, ch. 50, art. 1; 1871, § 2279; 1880, § 1141; 1892, § 2348; 1906, § 2678; Hemingway's 1917, § 2075; 1930, § 1946; 1942, § 36; Laws, 1912, ch. 229; Laws, 1966, ch. 317, § 1; Laws, 1972, ch. 436, § 1; Laws, 1973, ch. 387, § 1; Laws, 1974, ch. 564, § 1; Laws, 1980, ch. 492, § 1; Laws, 1982, ch 468, § 1; Laws, 1984, ch. 501, § 1; Laws, 1986, ch. 510, § 1; Laws, 1989, ch. 355, § 1; Laws, 1994, ch. 338, § 1; Laws, 1997, ch. 595, § 1; Laws, 1999, ch. 426, § 2; Laws, 2001, ch. 317, § 1, eff. 7/1/2001.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 62
cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1975–2025 · leading case: Sunburst Bank v. Keith, 648 So. 2d 1147 (Miss. 1995).
Sunburst Bank v. Keith, 648 So. 2d 1147 (Miss. 1995). “The chancery court erred in finding that each postponement of monthly payments was a separate and distinct oral credit transaction governed by the eight percent limitation in Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1 (1) (Supp. 1989).”
Deposit Guar. Nat'l Bank v. Roper, 445 U.S. 326 (1980). “There is no possibility of prospective relief because the Mississippi usury statute was amended in 1974 to authorize, inter alia, the charges at issue in this case.”
Galloway v. Travelers Ins. Co., 515 So. 2d 678 (Miss. 1987). “The applicable [3] usury statute is Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1 (Supp. 1979), which reads, in pertinent part, as follows: (2) Any borrower may contract for and agree to pay a finance charge for any loan or other extension of credit made directly or indirectly to a borrower, which…”
Upchurch Plumbing, Inc. v. Greenwood Utils. Comm'n, 964 So. 2d 1100 (Miss. 2007). “Triconex argues that Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1(1) (Rev.2000) allows trial judges to award prejudgment interest only where expressly provided in the contract.”
Thomas Perez, Sec'y v. Herbert Bruister, 823 F.3d 250 (5th Cir. 2016). “1984) (interpreting Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1(1)). 35 . The Secretary and Sealy respond by pointing to the Second Circuit's decision in Beck v.”
State v. Roderick, 704 So. 2d 49 (Miss. 1997). “Mississippi's civil usury statute, Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1 , states, "The legal rate of interest on all notes, accounts and contracts shall be eight percent (8%) per annum, calculated according to the actuarial method .”
Moeller v. Am. Guar. & Liab. Ins. Co., 812 So. 2d 953 (Miss. 2002). “§ 75-17-7 and Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1(1) at the time this action arose in 1982.”
Miller v. Parker McCurley Props., L.L.C., 36 So. 3d 1234 (Miss. 2010). “Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1(4) (Rev.2009). However, as argued by McCurley, subsection 5 of this statute provides that the interest rate provided for in the Agreement is lawful.”
Roper v. Consurve, Inc., 777 F. Supp. 508 (S.D. Miss. 1990). “In opposition, defendants claim that it was entitled to charge Vk% monthly interest or finance charge (18% per annum) pursuant to the retroactive application of the 1974 amendment to the Mississippi interest statute, Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1, et seq. (Supp.1975).”
Allied Chem. Corp. v. Jack MacKay D/B/A MacKay Farms Ltd., 695 F.2d 854 (5th Cir. 1983). “PER CURIAM: In this diversity case we must interpret Mississippi’s usury statute, Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1. * This is no small task.”
City of Gulfport, Mississippi v. Dedeaux Util. Co., Inc., 187 So. 3d 139 (Miss. 2016). “” However neither of these terms refer to any rate contained in Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1, ' which by its language pertains to notes, accounts and contracts.”
Benoit v. United Companies Mortg. of Miss., 504 So. 2d 196 (Miss. 1987). “On January 20, 1984, the Benoits commenced this civil action in the Circuit Court of Pike County alleging that United had charged them a prepayment penalty in excess of that allowed by our then general usury statute, Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1 (12)(b) (Supp. 1983) [1] .”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1(1) — 12 cases
Upchurch Plumbing, Inc. v. Greenwood Utils. Comm'n, 964 So. 2d 1100 (Miss. 2007). “Triconex argues that Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1(1) (Rev.2000) allows trial judges to award prejudgment interest only where expressly provided in the contract.”
Thomas Perez, Sec'y v. Herbert Bruister, 823 F.3d 250 (5th Cir. 2016). “1984) (interpreting Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1(1)). 35 . The Secretary and Sealy respond by pointing to the Second Circuit's decision in Beck v.”
Moeller v. Am. Guar. & Liab. Ins. Co., 812 So. 2d 953 (Miss. 2002). “§ 75-17-7 and Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1(1) at the time this action arose in 1982.”
Est. of Baxter v. Shaw Assocs., Inc., 797 So. 2d 396 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001).
Fred's Stores of Miss. v. M & H DRUGS, 725 So. 2d 902 (Miss. 1998).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1(2) — 2 cases
Nicolas v. Deposit Guar. Nat'l Bank, 182 F.R.D. 226 (S.D. Miss. 1998).
Roper v. Consurve, Inc., 777 F. Supp. 508 (S.D. Miss. 1990). “In opposition, defendants claim that it was entitled to charge Vk% monthly interest or finance charge (18% per annum) pursuant to the retroactive application of the 1974 amendment to the Mississippi interest statute, Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1, et seq. (Supp.1975).”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1(4) — 1 case
Miller v. Parker McCurley Props., L.L.C., 36 So. 3d 1234 (Miss. 2010). “Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1(4) (Rev.2009). However, as argued by McCurley, subsection 5 of this statute provides that the interest rate provided for in the Agreement is lawful.”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-1(5) — 1 case
Miller v. Parker McCurley Props., L.L.C., 36 So. 3d 1234 (Miss. 2010). “Miss.Code Ann. § 75-17-1(4) (Rev.2009). However, as argued by McCurley, subsection 5 of this statute provides that the interest rate provided for in the Agreement is lawful.”
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