A loan shark is an unlicensed moneylender who often targets families on low incomes or those who find themselves in difficult times. Licensed moneylenders are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and must follow the FCA's codes of practice. Loan sharks are not licensed and operate outside the law.
Loan sharks won't give you a formal agreement. A lack of clear information about the loan, such as the interest rate and repayment terms. Loan sharks may be vague about the amount of interest they charge and when exactly the loan would be paid off. Lending with no checks.
It's a criminal offence to lend money for profit without a consumer credit licence, although it's not illegal to borrow from such a company or person. Someone who engages in unlicensed lending is typically known as a loan shark.
While licensed lenders require personal information and usually perform a credit check, loan sharks do not require any documentation. They ask for your possessions as collateral. Loan sharks may request important items like a passport or driver's license to be used as “security” for the loan.
Loan sharks often work from home, charge very high rates of interest and don't give you much paperwork to confirm the arrangements they've made with you. A loan shark usually has lots of customers and lends money like a business, but their lending is illegal.
If you have borrowed money from a loan shark you are under no legal obligation to repay the debt. If a lender isn't licensed by the FCA then they have no legal right to recover the debt. Loan sharks sometimes frighten people by saying they'll be prosecuted and even sent to prison if they don't pay up.
Lending agreements between borrowers and loan sharks all have the following characteristics: a high rate of interest, generally 20 percent per week; a fairly explicit understanding that borrowers are pledging their physical well-being and that of their families as collateral for the loan; and a belief by the borrower ...
Loan sharks appear friendly at first, but quickly trap their victims into a vicious cycle of spiralling debts through threats, violence, and intimidation. These criminals rarely go round wielding baseball bats and smashing windows in.
Loan sharks ensure they get their money back through the threat and use of force. "If you don't pay the interest rate, they'll break your arm or break your leg," Cramer says. "Your interest keeps compounding, so it gets to be a very dangerous situation."
A report published by the Centre for Social Justice estimated 1.08 million people could be borrowing from an illegal money lender – more commonly known as a loan shark.
There are laws about what someone can and can't do to recover a debt. They can't: send you to prison. take and sell any property without a court order (unless they have a mortgage or other form of security over the property)
There is no law limiting how many personal loans you can have.
For example, a loan shark might lend $10,000 to a person with the provision that $20,000 be repaid within 30 days. These lenders may also often call on the debt to be repaid at any time, using violence as a means of forcing repayment.
A loan shark offers easy credit to borrowers at unreasonably high interest rates. Such lenders usually trap destitute borrowers who are desperate for immediate cash. They make profits out of exorbitant rates and unethical vehicles of debt recovery.
When most people think about loan sharks, it conjures images of shady gangsters from mob movies. You know, the guys who start breaking the legs of people who owe them money. This depiction is not really accurate. While loan sharks do exist, they rarely have anything to do with organized crime.
One of the reasons is that loan sharks do not care, such as credit score. For example, if Raj has a poor credit and no substantial assets to offer as collateral score, he cannot expect loan from any lender. Another key reason is loan sharks do not do something that any lender does; they do not ask too many questions.
Give the victim ibuprofen if possible to control the swelling, and elevate the limb. Not all shark bites are fatal—and some are relatively moderate. However, if a shark bite happens, call 911 immediately. The victim of a shark attack may still need treatment for shock even if the wound is not deep.
Avoid cash loans
Loan sharks will often only offer cash loans and will not provide any paperwork or receipts. Legitimate lenders will always provide a written contract and will offer different payment methods. If a lender is only offering cash loans, it is likely they are operating illegally.
Bump and bite: Bump and bites usually start with the shark circling around you, then they will engage by bumping into you then taking a bite. Usually this is like a hit and run where a shark is motivated by curiosity or sometimes, territorialism.
1. Great White Shark. Great white sharks are the most aggressive sharks in the world has recorded 333 attacks on humans, with 52 of them being fatal.
Fighting the Shark
Usually, a hard blow to the shark's gills, eyes or snout (end of its nose) will cause it to retreat. These are really the only vulnerable areas on a shark. If you have a spear gun or pole, use it! A sharp object is a good way to inflict enough pain to scare away the shark.
shy·locked, shy·lock·ing, shy·locks. To lend money at exorbitant interest rates. [After Shylock, the ruthless Jewish usurer in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice who demands a pound of his debtor's flesh as compensation for default upon a loan.]
Loansharking (also known as usury) is defined as lending money at an interest rate that exceeds the allowable legal limit.
Report Them To The Authorities
If you feel you or anybody you know has worked with a loan shark, you can call the X-Ah Long hotline at 1800-924-5664.
Loan sharks are illegal lenders who often target people who need to borrow money and can't access it from legal sources. They might seem friendly at first but borrowing from them is never a good idea – even if you feel you have no other options.