James Hollis can say goodbye to a pair of predatory loans with triple-digit interest rates.
Half a dozen Good Samaritans from across the country offered to pay off the debt after USA TODAY Nov. 3, wrote about Hollis, who lives on Social Security disability and $23 in monthly food stamps, and his $3,050 in car title loans he got to fix a faulty transmission.
Hollis said Monday he was blown away by the generous offers, and Lorne Lavine, an Encino, Calif. dentist who owns a dental technology company, covered the tab.
“I feel great relief,” Hollis said. “I didn’t know how I was going to get there. I was attached.”
Cassidy Araiza for USA TODAY
Hollis had started parking his 2006 Ford Crown Victoria, a converted ex-police cruiser, on its side in his carport in Tucson, Ariz., because he feared it would be picked up after falling behind in his payments in July.
Lavine, who said he provided free dental care abroad on humanitarian trips, said he wanted to help Hollis and was stunned by interest rates of nearly 155% and 202% on loans from car titles.
Interest on those loans was $10,741, or a total bill of nearly $14,000 if Hollis had paid it back over several years, records show.
“I felt awful,” Lavine told USA TODAY. “The people who need these loans the most are the hardest to repay, and these rates are crazy. can they get their heads above water when they have 200% interest on the loans?
USA TODAY writes about Hollis as it reviews high-interest loans that critics and supporters agree are becoming more common across the country. The trend driver is the staggering level of inflation grabbing low-wage earners who need help paying for purchases in instalments.
The story also reported a small bipartisan group in Congress who wants to reduce the cost of these loans by passing national legislation that would limit interest rates to 36%. That’s the maximum charged on all loans made to serving military and their families after a law was enacted 16 years ago.
Hollis said he received offers from five other strangers, including a woman who wanted to do a collection at her church. He said he kindly told those five people that another person, Lavine, had paid the debt.
James Hollis
Lavine said he was able to repay the larger loan of nearly $2,600 directly, but the company holding the smaller loan would only take payment from Hollis. So Lavine said he sent her a check.
Lavine said the USA TODAY story “hit a nerve” with him, and that he was initially only going to pay part of the loan. But after Hollis sent him all the loan documents, he was “devastated” by seeing the high interest rates and decided to pay it all back.
Lavine said another reason he wanted to help was to be a good role model for his 16-year-old son, Jake.
“I get pleasure and joy from helping others,” Lavine said. “I want him (Jake) to be a good person and to be helpful, kind and respectful.”
Much of Hollis’ limited income went toward the $427 monthly loan payment. Now he said he would have enough money to pay his bills and buy Christmas presents for his family.
And his days of taking car title loans are over.
“I won’t do that again,” Hollis said. “No way.”
Got a tip on business or investigative stories? Contact the reporter at craig.harris@usatoday.com or 602-509-3613 or on Twitter @CraigHarrisUSAT Where linkedin.com/in/craig-harris-70024030/
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