Sunbelt Credit made my daughter a loan and secured it by taking her car as collateral. Normally, under most lending transactions in Florida, the legal usury rate would be 18%. However, since Sunbelt Credit took her car as collateral it caused the loan to fall in the category of a "car loan" and therefore the legal usury rate is 30%. Sunbelt Credit charged my daughter 30.71% interest making it an illegal rate of interest. Since this was a standardized form, I wonder if all of Sunbelt Credit's customers are being charged an illegal rate of interest. Florida law carries civil and criminal penalties for violation of the usury law. Florida's Department of Finance investigative department is investigating this matter.
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