loansharking

n. Informal
The practice of lending money at usurious, often illegal interest rates.

The practice of loaning money at usurious rates of interest. Many states have laws that render usurious interest and in some instances even the underlying debt uncollectable. The use or the threat to use violence in order to collect the interest or the debt constitutes the crime of extortion. 18 U.S.C. §§891 et seq. See extortion; usury.