The money illegally lent needs to be paid back. However, the loan of the parties concerned is usury, and if the loan interest rate exceeds the law, the interest beyond the law does not need to be repaid, and the reasonable principal and interest still need to be repaid on time. In other words, what the law does not protect is the interest beyond the law, not the principal borrowed by the parties. In order to protect the rights of the lender, the principal is of course to be repaid and protected by law.

If the interest rate agreed between the borrower and the borrower does not exceed the annual interest rate of 24%, and the lender requests the borrower to pay interest at the agreed interest rate, the people's court shall support it. The interest rate agreed between the borrower and the borrower exceeds the annual interest rate of 36%, and the interest agreement in excess is invalid. The people's court shall support the borrower's request to the lender to return the part of the interest paid that exceeds 36% per annum. Therefore, the principal of private usury in private lending is protected, and the interest that does not exceed 24% of the bank's similar loan interest rate is also protected by law, and the interest that exceeds 36% is not protected by law.

Legal basis: Article 29 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Private Lending Cases.

The lender and the borrower agreed on overdue interest rate and liquidated damages or other expenses. The lender can choose to claim overdue interest, liquidated damages or other expenses, or both, but the people's court will not support the part that exceeds 4 times the quoted interest rate of the one-year loan market when the contract is established.