EZCORP Is Loansharking Per Florida

EZCORP is one of the biggest pawnshop chains in the US. The pawnshop inventory it sells is mostly jewelry, tools, electronics, sports equipment, and musical instruments forfeited by customers who used them as collateral and then couldn't repay the sky high-interest loans in time. EZCORP also peddles payday loans through about 75 of its pawnshops, as well as more than 430 EZMONEY payday loan stores in nearly a dozen states.

Minus Florida.

In March an administrative law judge ruled the several hundred percent annual interest rate charged by EZCORP violated Florida's anti-loan sharking statutes. Last week, Florida's Office of Financial Regulation served EZCORP with a cease and desist order requiring EZCORP to comply with Florida law or close their shops.

EZCORP announced today they would close their Florida locations pending an appeal of the order to comply with loan sharking laws.