How high can personal loans realistically charge a person?

As high as they signed on for, really. This is why you ALWAYS read the fine print before you sign any kind of contract dealing with money.

I honestly don't know if there are laws in place to prevent companies charging you higher than a certain percentage. I know there aw laws to protect debt collectors from harassing you have so many years but that is about it.

I thought there was a protection or some kind of reassurance for people who sign up for personal loans but it seems to not be the case. It is based on the free market in the US.

As high as a person is willing to pay really. This is why there are a lot of banks that get away with horrific charges for people who are desperate and have poor credit scores.

There were companies and banks doing over 300% interest rates in New York not too long ago. They local government can crack down on it if they see a reason to and in this case, it was justifiable to do so.