Continental Mortgage Investors v. Sailboat Key, Inc.
Florida Supreme Court
395 So. 2d 507 (1981)
- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
Sailboat Key (plaintiff), a Florida borrower, entered into an interstate loan agreement with Continental Mortgage (defendant), a Massachusetts company, in which the parties included a choice-of-law clause providing for the application of Massachusetts law that supported an interest rate that was considered usurious under Florida law. The same choice-of-law provision was included in all the parties’ major loan documents. The parties were named as co-defendants in a Florida foreclosure action filed by the first mortgagee, and Sailboat Key cross-claimed against Continental and claimed usury. The trial court applied Florida law and found the loan was usurious and assessed a penalty twice the interest charged, plus costs. The court of appeals, citing Florida public policy and a trial court finding that the parties’ choice of Massachusetts law was made in bad faith and showed an intent to avoid Florida usury laws, affirmed. Continental appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Sundberg, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
