- Thread starter johne
- Start date
Prestmos. What is the average rate for
the lenders are usually called prestamistas. that's what they are called.
My wife's cousin is a taxi driver in SD, and he is a prestamista for the other drivers. He only loans to taxi drivers. I don't know what he charges but he does very well.
I have come across a number of them in SD because of mutual friends and acquaints. Three of them I know "specialize". One does customers he has had for years as a cabbie. One does "casinos". One does does employees in resorts/hotels. They all do good. The "casino" woman is in her 60's and recently built a 8unit apartment bldg in East SD.I saw this bldg and its done first class. Separte meters, secure bell system, parking for her, complete with security gates on doors and window.
Lots of ways to skin a cat when you try.
Usureros in the street here in STI charge 20%. I would advise against borrowing from these guys.
You are right, many ways to take advantage of poor people.
I was the victim of theses Usureros for many years... my car's title was always saved in a Financiera safe box.
Every Taxi union or factory has one if theses lenders.
They will buy your end of the year extra salary or bonification several months in advance for a percentage of what you will receive and usually this people is well connected to someone in the accounting department.
One day I changed my life, never more...
Then I was buying zona franca boucher for employees transportation from other drivers in my union at 5% interest.
I also was encharged of delta airlines employees and suitcases transportation for a period of time.
JJ
Glad you made it out!!!
I know the loan percentages are high, but isn't part of the reason is that many loans don't get paid back?
It would seem you could start a lucrative business by undercutting the 20%/month market.
I used to finance buy my vehicles using the same Financiera for long time but at the end of the loans the vehicles was paid by the services I provided to the ouner if the Financiera. I provided transportation for his children to Santiago Christian School for many years.
Smart!
JJ
Smart!
JJ
It really is a big stinky can of worms, the loan business.
The ones you really want to be lending to, aka the ones who pay back, don't need you.
Middle class will go to a DR bank, for a 10% interest rate per year --- which is still armed robbery, if you ask me.
Upper class will get loans abroad at 1% per year.
Working class that are employed by big corporations, like the government, tourism, zona franca, large retail, etc, will have their own slush funds for loans to their employees.
You are stuck lending to the rest ( even though it's probably 50%+ of the population ).
They own nothing of interest to put up as collateral.
Are you going to sell a beat up carro publico or a rusty bike ? A bare cinder block house with a leaky zinc roof ? Too much hassle in reality.
Unless one is up for breaking arms and/or threatening children, one should stay away from lending money.
A security guard at my condo started out lending money to other security guards. He managed to get some Dominicans and a couple gringos to back him in this venture. All went well for a while - until people stopped paying him. Now his backers were breathing down his neck, so he went to a prestamista to borrow money to pay his backers in hopes things would turn around. They didn't. Now he didn't have the money to pay his backers or the prestamistas. One day, mid afternoon, the prestamistas showed up and beat the living daylights out of him. Definitely a messy business. These guys don't mess around. Stay away.
The Usureros here in the Cibao region/ Santiago are very active around the call centers and zona francas. I know several people who've been approached multiple times by the same two or three guys offering loans. They can also be found around the casinos.
It is a tough, difficult and sometimes dangerous business.
My wifes tio has several companies across the DR in the finance business and has 500 employees.
That having been said, it is also, if done right and as has been pointed out above, extremely lucrative.
For a window into what happens when a supposed top rated finance/investment house goes bad..............Albert Noesi C. por A. (ANOECA). Made money for some on the board and lost far more for others.
There is no shortage of money to loan in the country..............lots of cash to be laundered. And as the cash to loan rolls in.............lending standards drop........leading to very high default rates.
As to what they will take and sell if you don't pay............almost anything.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
My wifes tio has several companies across the DR in the finance business and has 500 employees.
That having been said, it is also, if done right and as has been pointed out above, extremely lucrative.
For a window into what happens when a supposed top rated finance/investment house goes bad..............Albert Noesi C. por A. (ANOECA). Made money for some on the board and lost far more for others.
There is no shortage of money to loan in the country..............lots of cash to be laundered. And as the cash to loan rolls in.............lending standards drop........leading to very high default rates.
As to what they will take and sell if you don't pay............almost anything.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
You might be surprised. Someone I knew very well made a living doing this for decades. He only lent money to one group. Diputados. No exceptions. His days were spent at Centro de Los Heroes. He’d still be doing it, but Covid killed him.