Usury Laws

See: Usury Rate.

Yes, there are laws. You can't charge borrowers a ridiculous rate of interest on their loans or credit chargers.

The harder question: what is the usury rate? Like...40% interest a year? Something like that.

And usury laws developed in large part to protect ignorant borrowers from doing stupid things with their money. As America grew and loans were needed for homes and cars and, well...clothing in the bad times, lenders popped up everywhere. If the lender could borrow money at 5% and then mark it up to 40% to sell to farmers, then wow...huge profit margins. So like...why not?

And they did. And people were burned by their own ignorance. So the government stepped in to protect them, and created various laws against these predatory and unfair lending practices. They still exist today, more or less.