Usury and Fee Cap Screener
See a loan's true all-in rate every way the law might measure it, before counsel does
Install it in one line — paste a single command into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and it writes the skill into your project.
Free, and about thirty seconds: a work email and a six-digit code.
Downloading shares your name, firm, role, and email with The Helvetica Group. That introduction is what keeps every skill here free.
What this skill does
Checks whether a loan's total cost could hit a usury limit or a cap on fees once points, lender fees, exit fees and minimum interest are counted. It does the math every way the law might measure it, including an early payoff, and lists the questions your lawyer needs to answer. It never states a legal limit as fact.
What it does
- Lists every charge on the loan, who receives it and when, and labels which ones are likely to be counted as interest
- Calculates the effective rate on the face amount, on the cash the borrower actually receives, and as a true yield
- Runs the numbers for full term, early payoff with minimum interest, extension, default and construction draws
- Shows how an 11% loan can carry a far higher yield if the borrower pays off in a few months
- Asks the questions that decide which rules apply: governing state, license status, borrower type, loan purpose, loan size, lien type
- Produces a ranked issue list for counsel, with pricing changes that would reduce any exposure
When to use it
- Before you issue a term sheet with points, exit fees or minimum interest
- You are lending in a state you haven't lent in before
- A borrower or broker questions your fees
- You are setting default rates, late charges or prepayment terms for a new program
What to have ready
- The loan amount, rate, term and how interest is charged
- Every fee and who receives it
- Default rate, late charge and prepayment terms
- The property state, borrower type and loan purpose
- Your license status, and any limit your counsel has given you
How to use it
- Download it with the button above. You'll sign in with a work email — that's how the creator knows who is using their skill.
- Copy the install prompt from the "Run it in Claude" box, and paste it into Claude along with the file. Claude installs the skill, fills in your firm's details where the file has
[BRACKETED]placeholders, and runs a quick test with you. - Then just ask in plain English. Claude picks the skill up on its own when a request matches it. Anything it still needs, it asks you for — it won't invent a number.
"Screen this term sheet: [LOAN AMOUNT] bridge in [STATE] to an LLC, [RATE]% with [POINTS] points, a [EXIT FEE]% exit fee and six months' minimum interest. We expect payoff in about four months."
What you get back
A pre-screen for counsel: a charge inventory, effective rates across methods and scenarios, the applicability questions answered or marked unknown, and a ranked issue list.
Good to know
- Output quality tracks input quality. A missing figure is flagged as missing — it is never estimated to fill a gap.
- Every draft is a starting point for your own review, not a finished decision.
- Runs anywhere Claude does: the Claude app, Claude Desktop, or Claude Code.
- It never quotes a state's limit from memory. It compares against a limit only when you supply one with its source, and every conclusion goes to your counsel.
Legal disclaimer
This skill drafts; it does not decide. Its output is not legal, tax, accounting, appraisal, or investment advice, and using it creates no attorney-client, fiduciary, or advisory relationship. Nothing it produces is a commitment to lend or an offer to sell a security. Verify every number, date, citation, and conclusion against the source documents, and have a qualified professional licensed in the relevant jurisdiction review the work before you rely on it or send it to a borrower, investor, counterparty, or regulator. Laws, rates, and market data change. The final work product is yours.
Inside this skill
The actual file you get. Members can read it in full before saving it.
Usury and Fee Cap Screener
A private loan priced at a note rate that is nowhere near any cap can still test high once points, lender fees, an exit fee and a minimum-interest clause are counted — especially if the borrower pays off in four months instead of twelve. Usury consequences can be severe and vary sharply by state, so the screen has two jobs: do the arithmetic honestly, in every way the law might measure it, and frame the questions that decide which rules apply, for counsel to answer.
Works for bridge, fix-and-flip, construction, DSCR/rental, land and small-balance commercial loans, for lenders and for brokers checking a lender's terms. It is a pre-screen for counsel, not a compliance opinion. For whether a license is needed to make the loan at all, use state-licensing-navigator; this skill works on the price of one specific loan.
Step 1 — Intake
| Input | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Loan amount and structure | ✅ | Face amount, any holdback or construction budget, interest reserve, how draws are funded |
| Note rate and how interest is charged | ✅ | Fixed or floating; on the full commitment or on disbursed funds only; payment frequency; any capitalized or deferred interest |
| Every charge the borrower pays | ✅ | Origination points, broker fees, underwriting, processing, doc prep, inspection/draw fees, extension fees, exit fees — and who receives each one |
| Default rate, late charge, and when each applies | ✅ | Including whether the default rate applies after maturity, and whether late charges apply to the balloon |
| Prepayment terms | ✅ | Minimum interest, prepayment premium, lockout, yield maintenance |
| Term and likely payoff | ✅ | Stated term, extension options, and the realistic early-payoff month (fix-and-flip loans often repay early) |
| States involved | ✅ | Property state, borrower's state, lender's state, and the loan documents' choice-of-law clause |
| Borrower type | ✅ | Individual, LLC, corporation, partnership, trust — and any individual guarantors |
| Loan purpose | ✅ | Business purpose or consumer; occupancy (see business-purpose-loan-determination) |
| Lender's and broker's license status | ✅ | Licensed in the property state, under what license, or unlicensed/exempt — as the user states it |
Reading the full skill counts as a download. The contributor receives your name, company, and email.
Ratings & reviews
No written reviews yet. If you run this on a live file, say how it went. The next lender reading this page is deciding whether to trust it.
Examination record
Run it in Claude
- Copy the install command above
- Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
- It writes the skill in, fills in your firm’s details, and test-runs it with you
Prefer the file? The prompt above is for a package you already downloaded.
Details
More from The Helvetica Group
They publish here under a verified work email. Their other skills, and how to reach them, are on their contributor page.