NORTH ANDOVER, MA – Businesses in North Andover have received $ 91 million in loan approvals under the federal paycheck protection program, according to data released Tuesday by the Small Business Administration.

The loans went to 729 companies and ranged from $ 667 to almost $ 5 million. Applicants said the loans would help them protect 6,469 jobs in North Andover.

Neighbor Andover got even more, with $ 126 million going to 723 companies.

Data released this week includes all loans under the program passed in March as the coronavirus pandemic took hold and forced large-scale business closings and layoffs. The SBA released loan data in July, but that data only showed loans over $ 150,000 and did not include specific dollar amounts.

The Washington Post, Bloomberg and other media companies sued the SBA for releasing the full data set. In November, a federal judge ruled in favor of the media companies and ordered the SBA to release the data by December 1. Data released on Tuesday was current to November 24 and includes updates to data released in July.

Previously on Patch: These North Andover Companies Obtained PPP Loans Over $ 150,000

PPP loans are part of the CARES Act, a comprehensive COVID-19 relief program passed by Congress in the spring. Loans are repayable as long as a certain percentage is used for payroll. The program stopped receiving new requests in August, but business groups are lobbying federal lawmakers and the Trump administration to renew the program.

In North Andover, the loans went to:

• FH Cann and Associates, a debt collection agency. Biggest loan in town: $ 4.904 million.
• Bake’n Joy Foods, which makes baking mixes and pasta. Obtaining a loan of $ 3.2 million.
• United Plastic Fabricating, a plastic manufacturer. Obtaining a loan of 2.8 million dollars.
• Edgewood Retirement Community. Received a $ 1.8 million loan, which they said would protect 315 jobs, the most of all North Andover loans.
• Proscape NA, a trucking company. Obtaining a loan of $ 667.
• Hundreds more.

Statewide, there were nearly 118,000 loans totaling $ 14.27 billion. In their loan applications, the companies that received the loans said they would help protect 1.17 million jobs in Massachusetts.

Digital lender SoFi is the last company to explore an independent public offering, according to a new report.

SoFi, headquartered in San Francisco, has held talks with a number of blank check companies to go public, according to CNBC.

The lender was the last valued at $ 4.8 billion after a roundtable last year. While best known for refinancing student loans, the startup also offers a variety of other financial products, including personal loans, small business loans, home equity loans, and mortgages.

SoFi has made a big effort in recent years to go beyond a specialization in student loan refinancing. In 2016, SoFi announced a partnership with Fannie Mae, which included a new loan option that allowed homeowners to refinance their mortgage at a lower rate and pay off an existing student loan balance.

On the mortgage front, SoFi is primarily targeting the jumbo market and will fund loans of up to $ 3 million. The lender requires a minimum of 10% down payment on all mortgages, but does not require PMI on the loans. While there is no setup fee, there is a one-time loan processing fee of $ 1,495. Borrowers with an existing SoFi product can get a reduction of $ 500 on the loan processing fee.

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SoFi is not the originator of government guaranteed loans, so it will not be the best option for FHA or VA borrowers. However, SoFi offers conforming conventional mortgages (10, 15, 20 and 30 year fixed mortgages).

According to Pitchbook data, SoFi has raised more than $ 3 billion in capital. Donors include the Qatar Sovereign Fund, a private equity firm Silver Lake and technology investor Peter Thiel. If it ends up going the PSPC route, it will follow two other mortgage lenders to choose the investment vehicle: United Wholesale Mortgages and black stone-possesses America’s Finance both should be made public in the coming months.

The company said it had recently received preliminary and conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national banking charter. The company has also diversified into equity trading and cash management accounts.

In June 2019, three of SoFi’s senior executives left the company amid reported struggles with profitability.

According to data Recursion companies, SoFi securitized approximately $ 1.9 billion in mortgages in 2020, with a service portfolio valued at approximately $ 2.5 billion as of December 1.

Personal Finance Insider writes about products, strategies, and tips to help you make informed decisions with your money. We may receive a small commission from our partners, such as American Express, but our reports and recommendations are always independent and objective.

The average American has $ 52,940 in debt for mortgages, home equity lines of credit, auto loans, credit card debt, student loans, and other debts like personal loans.

Data from Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report breaks down the average amount of debt Americans owe by type, age, and location of borrowers. The data was collected from a random sample of approximately 5% of Americans with information on the credit report.

Here’s what the average American owes.

Average US debt by type of debt

Here is a breakdown of the total amount, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report from the first quarter of 2021.

Mortgage debt is the most important debt of most Americans, far surpassing other types. Student loans are the second largest type of debt listed in the data.

Average U.S. Debt by State

Where a person lives tends to have a big influence on the amount of debt they accumulate.

While some parts of the country have higher house prices and the cost of living it may be lower in other states. Residents of California, for example, tend to have higher average mortgage balances than many other states with more affordable housing, such as Texas and Ohio.

Here is the average debt by type for residents of each U.S. state, according to New York Federal Reserve Board 2019 data. Scroll right to see total debt amount.

Average U.S. Debt by Age

Debt tends to peak in middle age. Overall, this suggests that Americans tend to pay off debt in retirement and tend to maintain low debt balances in retirement, especially those over 70. For those under 30, the main source of debt is student loans.

While age-separated 2019 data was not available, Insider took 2017 data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York who specified the total debt by age group and divided it by the number of people in each age group to find the mean.

It should be noted that this calculation distributes the debt over the entire population, including those who do not have this type of debt. Debt per person can be higher if it is calculated only on the basis of the population with this type of debt.

Here’s how the average debt balance breaks down by age group. Scroll right to see more data.

In this data, it should be noted that the low average HELOC mortgage and balance rates for people 29 and under are caused by low homeownership rates. According to Census Bureau data, only 34.4% of Americans under 35 owned a home, while 60.3% of Americans aged 35 to 44 owned a home in the first quarter of 2017.

How to start paying off debt

If you want to pay off some of your debt, here’s where to start:

Choose a reimbursement method and set a goal

Whichever method you choose, the first step will be to take stock of everything you owe, the total amount you owe, and the interest rate. Then you can start prioritizing what you owe.

Two popular strategies are the avalanche of debt and the snowball of debt. Debt snowball tackles smaller debt first to build momentum, then working on larger debt, while debt avalanche first focuses on paying down debt at higher interest to reduce the amount you pay overall.

Consider consolidating or refinancing when interest rates are low

For borrowers with credit card debt and other relatively small debt with high interest rates, consolidate your debts could make them more manageable. Debt consolidation Loans consolidate all of your existing debts into one debt, with one monthly payment and one balance. You could pay less interest on a debt consolidation loan than on a credit card, especially when interest rates are low.

Refinancing might be a smart move for people with larger debts, like mortgages, private student loans, and auto loans. Refinancing replaces your current loan with a new loan and can often help lower the interest rate. With interest rates now much lower than they were in the past, refinancing could be a smart decision to reduce your interest costs and reduce your debt.

Almost four years later Donald trump moved into the White House, there are a number of things that we expect from the administration, of which incompetence, chaos and self-operation are actually quite predictable. The president can be expected to spend a significant portion of his day tweeting incomprehensible attacks on people deemed disloyal. We can expect that Stephen miller will be actively hatch unique ways to make immigrant life hell. And we can expect that, if the opportunity arises, Trump and his children will do everything in their power to profit from the presidency, no matter how transparent and corrupt it is.

So really, it was only a matter of time before we learned that businesses owned by Trump and his son-in-law’s family were receiving millions of dollars in pandemic relief loans. Or that despite the fact that the money was largely intended to prevent employees from being fired, only a handful of employees at companies owned by Trump and Kushner were kept on the payroll. Through NBC News:

Scanning [analysis of] data released by the Small Business Administration … revealed that properties owned by the Trump organization as well as the Kushner companies, owned by the family of Jared kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, took advantage of the program.

More than 25 PPP loans worth more than $ 3.65 million have been made to companies with addresses in Trump and Kushner real estate properties, paying rent to those owners. Fifteen of the properties said they kept only one job, no jobs, or reported no numbers.

Trump, of course, chose not to quit his business on becoming president, and continues to profit from it – profits that have been well boosted by his insistence on accommodation foreign rulers in its properties, defraud the secret service, and impose on taxpayers for the water he drinks in Mar-a-Lago, among others. Kushner, with Ivanka, made at least $ 36 million last year, largely thanks to his stake in his family’s real estate company. (In 2017, the duo reported income of at least $ 82 million, so times are obviously tough.)

In addition to revealing loans to Trump and Kushner companies, PPP data showed ridiculous mismanagement of the program, with over 100 loans going to unnamed companies listed and other companies appearing to play with the system for loans ranging up to $ 10 million through their affiliates.

The original stated intention of the PPP programs by officials was to help payroll for small businesses struggling with the effects of coronavirus lockdowns…. But almost from the start, the programs, especially PPP, drew criticism for the way they were administered and delivered, and for their fairness. Large national banks initially only granted loans to customers with whom they had pre-existing lending relationships. Businesses owned by people of color without strong banking relationships found themselves with limited access and forced them to find other avenues of funding.

There was also the lingering question of what defined a ‘small business’, after lobbying from the hotel and restaurant industry inflated the maximum number of employees allowed to 500, even though more than 98% of small businesses in America have less than 100 employees.

Personal Finance Insider writes about products, strategies, and tips to help you make informed decisions with your money. We may receive a small commission from our partners, such as American Express, but our reports and recommendations are always independent and objective.

• The average mortgage payment is $ 1,275 for a 30-year fixed mortgage and $ 1,751 for a 15-year fixed mortgage.
• However, a more accurate measure of what the typical American spends each month on their mortgage would be a median: $ 1,556 in 2018, according to the US Census Bureau.
• The typical payment varies widely between states and cities, as home values ​​and property taxes vary widely. The costs have also increased over time.
• When to buy a house, the mortgage is not the only thing you will pay. Monthly costs also include insurance, property taxes, utilities, and HOA fees, if applicable.
• Sign up for the Personal Finance Insider email newsletter here »

Based on Business Insider US calculations using 2018 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average mortgage payment is $ 1,275 for a 30-year fixed mortgage and $ 1,751 for a 15-year fixed mortgage. You can see the full methodology at the end of this article.

However, an average, which can be skewed by unusually low or high payments, is probably not the most accurate representation of what the typical American homeowner actually pays. A better measure of this is the median, which represents the middle number in a data set.

The median monthly cost of homeownership in the United States is $ 1,556 per month, according to the most recent data from the United States. Census Bureau U.S. Community Survey 2018. This cost includes not only the monthly mortgage payment, but also other necessary costs like insurance, HOA fees, and property taxes.

Below, we’ve broken down the median data by state, city, and year.

Mortgage payments by state

While some states have relatively low real estate values, homes in states like California, Hawaii, and New Jersey have much higher house costs, which means people are paying more for their mortgage each month. Additionally, mortgage interest rate vary by state.

Data from the 2018 American Community Survey shows that homeowners paid a median amount of $ 1,556 per month. This figure includes a mortgage payment, as well as insurance costs, property taxes, utilities and HOA fees if necessary.

Here’s how the 50 U.S. states rank:

Mortgage payments by city

Especially in coastal cities where space is limited, a monthly payment for housing can be much higher than the national average or the median payment. According to US Census Bureau data from the 2018 American Community Survey, the median monthly housing payment (including utilities, insurance, and HOA fees) was over $ 2,500 per month in Los Angeles and over $ 2,700 per month in the New York area.

But not all metropolitan areas are this expensive – in Phoenix, Arizona, the median home payment is about $ 1,500 per month and about $ 1,700 per month in Dallas. Here’s how the most populous metropolitan areas compare to the monthly cost of living according to Census Bureau data. Cities are sorted by size.

Mortgage payments per year

The median cost of homeownership has increased year over year since 2010. Between 2018 and 2010, the median selling price of a home increased by $ 56,000. However, the median monthly home payment only increased by $ 70 per month.

Here’s how costs have evolved over the past eight years, according to American community survey The data.

Fees included in a monthly mortgage payment

In the Census Bureau American Community Survey data, the monthly mortgage payment includes things like insurance and taxes. Part of that is because that’s how mortgages work: often times, you pay more than the loan principal and the interest on your monthly payment.

If your mortgage includes a escrow account, you’ll pay two fees each month in your monthly mortgage payment:

• Property taxes: You will pay taxes on your home to your state and local government if necessary. This cost is included in your monthly payment if your mortgage includes an escrow.
• Home Insurance: To keep your home covered, you will need to purchase a home insurance policy. the average cost of home insurance is about $ 1,200 per year.

In addition, mortgage payments can also change based on several factors. Two different people could even face very different costs of owning the same house. There are two big factors that change your monthly payment:

• The size of your deposit: Like many other types of loans, a mortgage requires a down payment. If you don’t have 20% deposit for the home you buy, you’ll add to the cost of your monthly mortgage payment with private mortgage insurance, or PMI. The higher your down payment, the lower your mortgage will be each month.
• Your mortgage interest rate: The amount of interest you pay on your mortgage will influence how much you pay each month. Interest rates vary depending on your credit score, where you live and the type of loan you take out.

Another monthly cost to consider should be how much you will need to save for repairs. In general, the older your home, the more you need to keep on hand for repairs. Utilities like the internet, garbage removal, and electricity will also increase your monthly homeownership costs.

Methodology: How we got our average number

We took the current median selling price of a new home in the US as reported by Zillow, then assumed a standard 20% down payment and factored in the current 15 and 30 year fixed interest rates. as reported by the

Federal Reserve
to get the average monthly mortgage payment.

American workers and the elderly have had the toughest hands in decades this year. The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ravaged the U.S. economy, sent the unemployment rate to levels not seen consistently in more than eight decades, and claimed the lives of nearly 160,000 Americans.

It was this turmoil that forced Congress to pass and President Trump to sign the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) law on March 27.

The CARES Act hasn’t done much for the average American

the CARES Law is an absolute monster in terms of size. At $ 2.2 trillion, that’s nearly triple the cost of the back-up plan designed to protect banks during the financial crisis. Ultimately, it provided much-needed cash to struggling industries, small businesses, hospitals, and the Unemployment Benefit program – the latter of giving the unemployed an extra $ 600 a week between April 1 and April 30. July.

However, the big draw of the CARES Act was the $ 300 billion earmarked for direct stimulus payments to the public. At their maximum, these economic impact payments could total $ 1,200 for an individual or $ 2,400 for a couple making a joint claim (depending on adjusted gross income), with dependents aged 16 and under adding $ 500 each. what a parent or guardian might receive.

While it has proven useful to throw a load of cash into businesses, it does little to help the average American who has financial difficulties. Three-quarters of stimulus recipients are estimated to have spent their payments in four weeks or less, which doesn’t help when there is no clear end in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic.

With another much-needed stimulus round, it should come as no surprise that Democrats and Republicans have relentlessly negotiated a new deal in recent days. As of the end of Thursday, August 6, no new stimulus deal had been reached.

Image source: Getty Images.

President Trump’s payroll tax cut proposal finds new life

The problem is that the legislative session of the Senate after the two-week recess on July 4 only lasts three weeks. After Friday August 7, the Senate will be on vacation for a full month. This means that lawmakers (at the time of writing) are driving these negotiations on the fly. Financial help is now needed for many American families, and delaying talks for another month due to the legislative recess could prove disastrous.

This inability of Democrats and Republicans to find sufficient common ground between Act on the HEROES and HEAL Take action is what is allowed Donald Trump’s terrible stimulus proposal to find new life.

As I left the Ohio Oval Office, I informed my staff to continue working on an executive order regarding payroll tax cuts, eviction protections, unemployment extensions, and student loan repayment options.

– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Aug 6, 2020

As some of you may recall, President Trump was adamant, before the Senate returned from vacation on July 20, that he would not sign a new round of stimulus if he did not include a provision to temporarily suspend or reduce payroll taxes – that is, the tax paid by U.S. workers and employers who fund Social Security and Medicare programs.

The idea here is that if the payroll tax were temporarily suspended, the tax liability of workers and / or businesses would decrease. That would do put more money in the pockets of workers and businesses, thus helping to avoid a financial maelstrom.

While the Democratic-led House and Republican-led Senate remain deadlocked on a handful of key stimulus issues, President Trump has threatened to sign an executive order that would expand protections against evictions, improve unemployment benefits, provide student loan borrowers with repayment options, and. .. reduce social charges.

Image source: Getty Images.

Trump’s stimulus proposal would decimate social security

The concern is that if Trump gets his wish for a payroll tax cut, it would do nothing more than trade very short-term gains for long-term pain. Moreover, it is even questionable whether the short-term gains would be so noticeable.

First of all, lower payroll taxes would only bring an immediate benefit to those who are still working. Arguably, it is the people who have been forced out of the workforce who are most in need of financial assistance. A cut in payroll taxes would do nothing for the tens of millions of unemployed people who are looking from the outside.

But the biggest problem here is that the payroll tax is the main source of Social Security income. Last year, he was responsible for $ 944.5 billion (89%) of the $ 1.06 trillion raised. Reduce or stop this source of income, even for a short time would be disastrous for Social Security, which already faces around $ 16.8 trillion in unfunded bonds between 2035 and 2094, according to the latest Social Security Board report. In all likelihood, a payroll tax holiday of significant duration would bring forward the date on which Social Security should deplete its asset reserves. When these reserves are exhausted, a up to 24% overall reduction in benefits awaits retirees.

Of course, there is a viable legal question as to whether Trump has the legal power to lower taxes. The U.S. Constitution specifically authorizes Congress to impose and collect taxes, so it’s not clear whether a Trump executive order to reduce or suspend payroll taxes would have any legal merit.

The point is, drastically cutting payroll taxes is a terrible idea, and we should all hope that it doesn’t come to fruition.

Select’s editorial team works independently to review financial products and write articles that our readers will find useful. We may receive a commission when you click on product links from our affiliate partners.

How young consumers can prepare for the sequel

Editorial note: Any opinions, analysis, criticism or recommendations expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the editorial staff of Select and have not been reviewed, endorsed or otherwise approved by any third party.

It’s no secret that medical school is expensive. According to Association of American Faculties of Medicine, the average medical school debt of students who graduated in 2019 was $ 201,490.

If you are planning to study medicine or are already in the thick of it, it’s important to understand what to expect from the financing process and what your options are for repayment and debt reduction.

What is the average debt of medical schools?

The average student loan debt of physicians and other medical school graduates is $ 201,490, an increase of 3% from the previous year. That’s a far cry from the $ 28,950 average student loan debt for all students graduating in the same year, according to the Institute of College Access and Success.

Here are some more details about the average debt after medical school:

• Seventy-three percent of graduates have medical school debt.
• Almost one in five medical graduates has student loan debt of more than $ 300,000.
• The median debt for pre-med studies is $ 25,000.
• Forty-four percent of medical school graduates plan to participate in a student loan cancellation or repayment program.
• Medical school graduates also have other debts, including a median of $ 5,000 on credit cards and a median of $ 10,000 in home and relocation loans.

In comparison, the average student loan balance for graduates with professional doctorates for the 2015-2016 school year (the latest data available) was $ 186,600, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Graduates with research doctorates and masters graduates with $ 108,400 and $ 66,000 in debt, respectively.

What are the average interest rates on medical school loans?

If you have federal student loans, including undergraduate and graduate loans, the interest rates are updated annually. Private student loans, on the other hand, generally offer a range of interest rates, which depend on the creditworthiness of the borrower.

Here is a history of federal student loan interest rates over the past few years:

Since November 2020, private student loan interest rates vary from just under 2% to around 14%, depending on the lender and your creditworthiness.

It is important to understand that most student loans accumulate interest while you are in school, even if you choose not to make payments, and if you choose to continue this deferral during residency, the interest will accrue. Once you’re ready to make payments, the lender will capitalize the interest, add it to your principal balance, and increase your monthly payment.

How long does it take to pay off medical school loans?

The standard repayment term for federal student loans is 10 years. If you’re struggling to keep up with your monthly payments, you can extend your repayment schedule up to 30 years with alternative repayment plans:

Private student loan companies set their own repayment terms, but most loans to private medical schools will allow the choice of terms of five to 20 years. Of course, you can always refinance your loans on new terms, thereby extending the repayment period. How long it takes you to pay off your medical student loan debt ultimately depends on your salary and other expenses.

How can I reduce the debt of my medical school?

You may find it difficult to work even part-time while studying medicine, so you may need to rely on scholarships and grants to reduce your reliance on debt to complete your college education.

However, once you finish your studies, you will have several options to reduce your student loan balance, or at least the amount of interest you pay on the debt.

Student loan exemption programs

The federal government offers student loan forgiveness borrowers who work for a government agency or qualifying non-profit organization. To qualify for the public service loan forgiveness program, you will need to work full time for an eligible employer while making 120 eligible monthly payments.

Once you have fulfilled all the conditions, your remaining debt will be canceled without any tax consequences.

You can also get a discount by signing up for an income-based repayment plan and sticking to the repayment term. After 25 years of payments, your remaining debt will be canceled, although the paid-up balance is considered taxable income.

Student loan repayment assistance programs

Federal agencies and state governments offer a variety of student loan repayment assistance programs. These programs are not technically forgiveness programs because the benefit does not come from the lender, which is the US Department of Education.

However, depending on the program, you could get tens of thousands of dollars in repayment assistance. The Association of American Medical Colleges maintains a list of state and federal programs you may be able to take advantage of it.

One thing to keep in mind is that these programs generally only provide assistance to borrowers with federal loans. If you have private student loans, they may not be eligible.

Student loan refinancing

Refinancing a student loan involves replacing one or more existing loans with a new one through a private lender. Depending on your income and credit history, you may be eligible for student loan refinance rate lower than what you are currently paying, which can save you money and lower your monthly payment.

You will also have the option of shortening or extending your loan repayment term – lenders typically offer terms ranging from five to 25 years.

Note, however, that if you have federal loans, refinancing may not be the best option if you are working toward a rebate, a repayment assistance program, or an income-based repayment plan.

Whatever you do, it’s important to be proactive in paying off your medical school debt. Research your options, especially forgiveness and repayment assistance programs, and choose the one that best suits your needs and financial goals.

Learn more:

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, more than 20 states have shut down non-essential businesses so far, and like clockwork, an increasingly unlikely parade of companies is claiming to be essential. The latest is Cash Store, an “alternative to payday loan” chain that has ranked its more than 100 locations in Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico and Wisconsin as essential businesses. All four states have placed shelter-in-place orders, but at Cash Store, life goes on.

Critical business listings for some states, such as Illinois, include “banks and financial institutions.” But payday loan stores aren’t considered financial institutions – in fact, at least one circuit court has specifically held that they are not. Still, Cash Store said it remains open as a core financial service, meaning all of its storefronts are staffed and open at regular times, including for borrowers who wish to “invest funds for periods of time.” long and short “or” transfer financial risk between clients. ”

Payday lenders are notorious for finding clients in difficult circumstances and leaving them in the worst. Deferrals, misleading advertisements and unrealistic repayment schedules push desperate borrowers to debt traps, where many pay thousands of dollars in interest on a few hundred loans and always end up going bankrupt. Borrowers take out new loans so as not to default on old ones; according to a Pew Charitable Trusts report, paying off an average payday loan “requires about a third of the average borrower’s salary, leaving not enough money to cover daily living expenses without borrowing again.” Likely to borrow for critical needs: Medicaid expansion in California cut payday loans ( Guaranteed Approval Loan ) by more than 10%, in 2017 Health affairs study find. And “alternatives” to payday loans, such as car title loans, often end in repossession.

But it’s an incredibly lucrative industry: short-term borrowers, i.e. bankrupt people with bad credit,paid over $ 60 billion in fees and interest in 2015. Things got worse with Donald Trump go back consumer protections of the Obama era, as well as its evisceration of the only federal agency built to fight predatory lending.

Cash Store is the retail face of Cottonwood Financial, a major retail credit player, which has spent over $ 50 million in advertising only in the 2000s. Cottonwood CEO and Chairman Trevor Ahlberg (also an enthusiastic big game hunter, according to a detailed survey speak Texas Observer) has donated over a million dollars to conservative causes, and thousands to PACs supporting Trump — and he’s far from alone in industry. As early as 2013, the Texans for Public Justice found that Ahlberg was “by far the most politically active payday lender”. according to at D Magazine.

by Cottonwood Better Business Bureau page is a litany of complaints (and often replies by form letter) from consumers who claim that they have been asked to pay the same debt, or part of it, more than once; that Cash Store has made unauthorized direct withdrawals from their current accounts; and, of an employee identifying himself as a benefits specialist, that Cash Store said he would not add his young child to his employer’s health insurance without a court order. (Cottonwood responded, acknowledging that he ultimately added the child.) In his own backyard in Texas, Cash Store practices appear to bypass local laws that limit loan amounts and payments, the Observer reported.

It is not immediately clear why Cash Store would keep hundreds of physical stores open. Many payday lenders offer cash advances online, including through apps that you can access over the phone. Some claim to deposit your funds remotely within minutes. And if you want to donate your money to Cash Store from home, no problem – you can make a loan payment by phone, mail, or electronically, through its coronavirus webpage. But need to borrow money? You will need to get there. Unlike some competitors, Cash Store will only take money from a distance, not distribute it., despite evidence that small cash loans can be approved remotely. This means thousands of workers are walking into hundreds of stores, helping Cottonwood collect debts, at the cost of exposure to COVID-19.

The Cash Store website claims to have “implemented additional cleaning and disinfection protocols” and sent its stores “additional cleaning supplies to increase health safety.” Their blog has several articles related to COVID: “We decided to check the facts on some of the top stories related to the coronavirus, to help you overcome the stigma and get straight to the point! We say. Another offer dismissed job seekers a list of companies currently hiring, from CVS to Papa John’s. After all, you can’t get a payday loan without a payday. With 5 million jobs or more on the chopping block in March alone, Americans will need money in the months to come. But the typical requirement for a payday loan is a steady stream of income, and massive job losses could lead to problems for payday lenders.

If Cash Store is at risk of losing business, why stay completely open? A clue: Americans have about $ 10 billion in outstanding payday loans. Many borrowers default on high interest loans, and stores like Cash Store are building this into their model; Cottonwood Financial sells its unpaid debt to collectors for pennies on the dollar. But third-party debt collectors are about to get more business than they can handle, most better than payday loans. “At this point, we’re a glorified collection agency,” one cash advance lender wrote on Facebook. On social media, small lenders are rushing to fundraise from individuals and small businesses, swapping stories about lenders who won’t help them lend more, but are still waiting for their money.

Unlike independent lenders of small fingerlings, Cottonwood is not indebted to anyone. The company is promoting itself as “one of the largest private lenders” in the country; it is cash rich, has no debt and is much less risky by closing some or all of its over 300 stores. Even if they were made redundant, frontline Cash Store workers could collect extended unemployment benefits under the CARES Act; instead, they risk COVID-19 for the sake of Cottonwood’s investments. (Cottonwood did not respond to requests for comment.)

Other types of lenders offer breaks on the high interest rates and short terms of most cash advances. The American bank has lower rates on his short-term cash loans, which he presents as an alternative to the payday loan. Barclays waives fees on (usually expensive) credit card cash advances. Cash Store, meanwhile, offers borrowers affected by the tidal wave of closures and layoffs a chance to… borrow again. A web-based FAQ for the business states that you can get “cash back refinance” on your “alternative” payday loan, but you “still need to visit your local Cash Store to complete the loan agreement.” . Fortunately, if you’ve already paid off one Cash Store loan, you’re pre-approved for another.

In fact, the five largest banking and financial regulators in the country have unanimously pushed banks and credit unions to offer serious payday loan alternatives during the coronavirus crisis – cheaper alternatives, not as expensive loans in a slick package. Even borrowing with your credit card, if you have one, could costs less in interest and will not force you into a store.

Cash Store isn’t the only store that remains open under the dubious guise of an essential service. GameStop, Guitar Center, and Lobby also informed Americans that we cannot live without them. Joann Fabrics and Crafts, loan by Thoreau, initially defied state orders close, although he is now giving in mask making kits for good Samaritan couturiers. And some tried to make extra money during the crisis: the Menards hardware chain was ordered last week to stop drive up prices on cleaning products and masks. States have seen a wave of price abuse complaints, and the cost of protective equipment has skyrocketed among online retailers.

Do you have any other examples of businesses refusing to close despite better judgment, cutting corners on safety, or simply profiting? Help Mother Jones track corporate fund seizures during the pandemic with an email to [email protected]. If you can, include photos, links, or documentation.