Charging more interest on a loan than the legal limit Usury laws vary widely from state to state and in certain instances have been preempted by federal regulations and rulings
Excessive or illegal interest rate Most countries now prohibit interest rates above a certain level; and rates which exceed these levels are called "usury"
When an individual is charged an interest rate that is higher than what the law will allow Usury is illegal
disapproval Usury is the practice of lending money at a high rate of interest. the practice of lending money to people and making them pay interest (4) (usuria, from usura , from usus; USE). In law, the crime of charging an unlawfully high rate of interest. In Old English law, the taking of any compensation whatsoever was termed usury. With the expansion of trade in the 13th century, the demand for credit increased, necessitating a modification in the definition of the term. In 1545 England fixed a legal maximum interest, a practice later followed by other Western nations