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Submitted by Cherfleur

Courts (Barbados) Ltd aka Unicomer is offering Cash Loans at THIRTY PERCENT interest.

How are they doing it and to whom?

Courts advertises in the Classifieds section with the entreaty of waiving the payments for six months if and when the customer is made redundant. Naturally the who are the young vulnerable teen mothers, most of whom are in the Informatics Industry in the Harbour industrial Park.

It’s a wretched pipeline, like the ‘cradle to grave’ one in USA. Desperate to acquire much needed items on a subsistence wage, this group of the population in this sector is easy prey to such predatory practices and false marketing.

Crucible recently laid off a second batch of employees for this year. In June they advised the Labour Department that they lost a Contract and was forced to sever employees but that the amount was less than the 10% that would require Union/Labour Department Consultation. I would hope that Mr Mayers of the Labour Department investigate to ascertain whether Crucible lost another Contract in this half of the year or it is the same Contract they are now relieving more employees from. Working the loop holes of the Law (perhaps not).

Whatever the situation these employees are now on the bread line and some of them who had these treacherous loans from Courts approached the firm and applied to get the waiver only to be told by the floor Representatives that they do not know or never heard of such offerings. FALSE ADVERTISING.

So unemployed and cash strapped these vulnerable ladies have to cough up much needed dollars to service these illegal loans.

Courts is not licensed to lend money’ or are they? Nevertheless 30% is Usury. The Banks and Credit Unions are being had by Courts.

Attempts to reach the Director, Consumer Finance or the Marketing Manager went unanswered.

30 RASSHOLE percent!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY.


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216 responses to “PREDATORY MARKETING and the Vulnerable in Society”

  1. Piece the Legend Avatar

    The word is “VULNERABLE” not “Venerable” but as Mr Hal Austin often points out, THE CHAIRMAN, or one of them, WOULD NOT KNOW THAT!

    Oh, de ole man do a screen shot with *** (which bypasses your security tingy so, ever though you have remote viewing heheheheh, to change it will only make it worse)

    Let de ole man post first and then…

    Heheheheh

  2. Piece the Legend Avatar

    I wanted to post this item for quite some time now but did not get time to delete the name of the party on the letter that came to the bajans house.

    Courts IS A BANK!

    and while the bajan authorities are oblivious to this bank operating without a license in Barbados IT HAS BEEN OFFERING ITS SERVICES AS A BANK FOR YEARS, in Barbados and across the region for years.

    The problem “Kim” is that Bajans ARE A STOOPID PEOPLE AND SHEEPLE

    Getting bulled IS THE NORM IN BARBADOS and liking it is even more normal.

    But this is a very good article “Kim” and it is good that you’ve come to BU!

    Heheheheh

    Should have been here ages ago.

    Put Torproject.org on your computer AND ONLY POST ON BARBADOS UNDERGROUND USING THAT BROWSER!


  3. Courts does not accept deposits from the public. Therefore it does not qualify to be a bank.


  4. Courts may not be a deposit taking bank, but if it sells goods on hire purchase and may itself be providing the underwriting, then it is performing the role of a bank, if there is no third-party involvement.
    It is another example of poor financial regulation and of even worse consumer protection. Where is the FSC? I know of one instance where a firm was doing business in Barbados written under American law. Ridiculous.


  5. “Courts IS A BANK!”

    is that the same courts that the wicked government wrote off tens of millioins of dollars in VAT or taxes STOLEN FROM THE PEOPLE..

    Again..FSC regulates nothing, the public nuisance who has been heading it for far too long is just some yardfowl from one government or the other sucking on free tax dollars and only placed there to facilitiate these con artist companies and insurance companies to get away with crimes against the people and island, not to regulate them..

    same FSC were exposed for not regulating anything and the uppity fool with the slave stock fake title had the nerve to want to sue..


  6. So get it in your heads, all these crimes against the people and island are government sanctioned and condoned, makes it easier to remove billions of dollars from the economy, unchallenged and unnoticed.


  7. What is a bank?

    Banks in Barbados lend money belonging to depositors and is authorized/regulated to do so by the central bank of Barbados.

    Courts is a retailer engaging in hire practice by lending its own funds. Courts is NOT regulated by the central bank.

    You as always may have the last word.


  8. David BU

    I understand Courts Ready Cash Loans is registered as a non-banking financial institution.

    I think it’s similar to businesses such as Fast Cash Loans Barbados, CashWiz Barbados, Axcel Finance Barbados and TravelCash Barbados…….. all of which offer short term loans at high interest rates.


  9. @Artax

    You are correct.


  10. If Courts is effectively lending money to consumers to purchase its own goods, it is carrying out the function of a bank and should be regulated as a bank. Banking regulations 101.
    If I set up an office or shop lending out my own money to applicants repayable with or without interest I am carrying out the function of a lender ie a bank. A business does not have to be a deposit taker to be a bank. Investment banks do not take deposits.
    Barbados is part of a wider world, we cannot throw a cloak around ourselves and pretend we have our own rules. There are global financial regulations that is why we worry about corresponding banks and fear the US so much.


  11. @Artax

    The substantive issue raised by Kim – should we hold Courts accountable for hire purchase packages that target the most vulnerable. Should caveat emptor apply? Should the FTC be more active in this regard by leveraging the Consumer Protection Laws.


  12. David BU

    Courts Ready Finance is a subsidiary of Courts Barbados Ltd. that offers the “Courts Ready Cash” short term loans.

    Businesses in the non-banking sector are regulated by the FSC.

  13. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU

    Courts is operating as a financial institution ,lending money at usurious rates. This should have attracted the attention of both the FSC and the Central Bank. Stop making excuses for lawlessness in this society. It does not fit in with the advertised mission of BU.


  14. @Vincent

    The simple point is Courts as a NBFI is NOT a bank and NOT regulated as one as confirmed on the central bank website.

    http://www.centralbank.org.bb/banking-supervision/licensed-financial-institutions

    What it should be and what it is – two different things.


  15. David BU

    Is Simpson Finance Limited providing banking services when it offers loans to customers to buy cars from Simpson Motors Limited, or Consolidated Finance Co. Ltd. when it provides loans to buy cars from MQI and CarMax?

    If so, then should Simpson Finance and Consolidated Finance be regulated as banks?

  16. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David at 8 :24 AM

    Any element of social injustice raised by a blogger should be discussed. The item you cherry picked is the tip of the iceberg it is indicative of a shadow bank. Ask Hal Austin about them.

  17. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU

    Have you checked to ascertain if the cited companies are registered as financial institutions, and are regulated however ineffectively?


  18. @Artax

    As you may recall, when the FSC was established to regulate credit unions, insurance entities and other non banking FIs, there was robust debate in this forum. Many agreed that it was a mistake. Today we have the FSC, FTC and Central Bank tripping over the other.

    @Vincent

    Hopefully this comment addressed your concern. We have a tendency in this forum to engage in discursive dialogue.

  19. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU at 8 :32 AM

    I am not asking nor speculating. They are financial institutions.


  20. @Vincent

    The issue here is how are they regulated. So far it is agreed that the FSC has the reponsibiliy for regulating non bank financial institutions. Note the word NON.

    http://fsc.gov.bb/index.php/en/


  21. @ Vincent

    If Courts is operating as we have said, it is indeed a Shadow Bank. The same with stores that hand out store cards or supermarkets or any firm that enters the consumer lending markets. I think people are mistaking retail banks as the only banks because they are deposit takers.
    The point is very simple: if you are a cash rich supermarket, you can either deposit your takings or make them work for you and the best and easiest way to do this is by offering credit.
    It would be more profitable than just leaving it in a bank account not doing anything. The moment you do that you have become a Shadow Bank. Lenders can, and do, package their loan books and sell them on; that was what led to the 2007/8 crisis with mortgage lenders.
    As you have pointed out, regulation comes under the FSC and central bank. In any case, consumer protection should kick in.


  22. @Vincent

    The blogmaster has a job to do, which is to amplify concerns especially as it applies to the vulnerable in society. The employees earning subsistence wages and obligated to honour usurious rates with onerous terms and conditions should not be forgotten.

  23. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin at 8:54 AM

    Super!

    .Thanks very much for bringing some clarity to the issue and pointing out the potential threat to the Barbados financial system.


  24. A link extracted from BU Archives maybe enlightening for some. It was a time we questioned the bona fides of Fast Cash.

    https://barbadosunderground.net/2014/05/21/fast-cash-barbados-more-information-please/


  25. I usually go by my gut and a few aphorisms I can weigh in

    Two rules from the guts are:
    “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”
    or
    “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.”

    Some of us are able to dissect an item with the precision of a surgeon. But why get hook on if it is a “bank or not”. One blogger cleverly sidestep the argument by stating “Courts is operating as a financial institution”. Without regulations these institutions have a license to print money as they can charge what the hell they want.

    So let us hope there is an agency/office/department/commission to look into these matters.

    Do

  26. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU at 8 :57 AM

    You are back on track. Mission is being fulfilled. “Against the wrongs that need assistance”.


  27. @Vincent

    Here is a question you may punt.

    If the central bank were to regulate these non bank entities sprouting all over the place, how confident can (we) consumers be given the growing criticism directed at banks?


  28. Courts has been around for quite some time. By now it policies/practices should be common knowledge

    One of the things that need to be done is to educate consumers on loans and interest rates. With banks paying little or nothing on interest, a consumer should have an idea of what is an exorbitant interest.

    We can go after Courts, but if a next generation will beat a path to a similar organisation, then we have not solved the problem. Let us try to put out the entire forest fire and not the bush that may be burning next door.

    Educate the youths. These topics should be touched on before graduating….
    Savings
    Loans
    Investing (high risk, low risk).
    A penny save is a penny earned.
    The Joneses may be catching their royals

    Let’s get to the bread and butter issue and avoid the academic discussion.

  29. SirFuzzy (Former Sheep) Avatar
    SirFuzzy (Former Sheep)

    https://centralbank.ie/consumer-hub/explainers/what-is-shadow-banking

    “Shadow banking is a term used to describe bank-like activities (mainly lending) that take place outside the traditional banking sector. It is now commonly referred to internationally as non-bank financial intermediation or market-based finance. Shadow bank lending has a similar function to traditional bank lending. However, it is not regulated in the same way as traditional bank lending.”

    Interesting discussion i must say.


  30. It should also be pointed out that many of our organizations are just place holders. They may have the name and structure, but they do not perform that task that is expected of them. Let’s not pretend that they do.

    We have to ask these agencies to be active and to perform their tasks, but that should be one line of defense. Given past performances, it can not be the only line of defense.


  31. Are there any laws relating to USURY in Barbados?

  32. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @David BU

    The CBB, without announcing it, has instituted a low/negative interest rate policy. Under normal conditions this should have triggered increased borrowing of loan capital by the private sector for expansion.
    Neither the banks nor business have responded positively. They have instead borrowed from state institutions rather than commercial banks. The commercial banks instead of marketing to businesses preferred to lend GoB money,up until then risk free lending at rates higher than obtained in their home countries .

    One may ask: Was the high Debt /GDP ratio a function of demand for GoB debentures? Or the failure of GoB to tax and collect revenues?

    Why did the commercial banks not lend to consumers at lower rates? They pushed high credit card borrowings . Commercial Houses got into the usurious lending by issuing their brand of credit cards and around sand around we go.

  33. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    Correction “pushed high interest rate credit card lending”


  34. @Sargeant

    Did a scan of the Act and the only one flagged with ‘usury’ was Building Societies Act.

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/building-society-act.pdf


  35. @ Vincent

    Here is a view: the three of the four biggest and most powerful central banks are not headed by non-economist: The Fed, by a politics graduate, the ECB, by a lawyer, and the Bank of England by a historian. Dos this tell you something?

  36. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Sergeant

    Do we need a law for every conceivable sin? We know within our hearts what is an unconscionable rate of interest. In any case the Central Bank is there to regulate interest rates.
    What law what?
    @ Theo
    At primary school by age ten every child masters the computation of simple and compound interest rates. No need for public propaganda. Use the education the taxpayers provided. Or those were in the Halcyon days of yore, Sergeant?


  37. @Vincent

    In theory yes but there is the x variable in a market where there was/is low confidence. The foreign banks have reacted to low sovereign ratings by tightening credit policies per instructions received from Head Offices? Where are the opportunities for real investment besides consumer durables? We need more non bank institutions interested to promote micro and non traditional financing. We have ventilated on this matter many times in the last decade in this forum.


  38. Three of the top four are headed by non-economists…….


  39. @Vincent

    It is not about just arithmetic, it is about financial intelligence and commonsense as well. The same concern can be made for expanding civic awareness at the primary level given the low grade effort by the citizenry when it comes to understanding rights under our system of government/


  40. @ Vincent

    There are basically two types of regulation: rules-based, as in the US, which can have perverse outcomes; and the principles-based, which applies in the UK, in which it is more difficult to hide behind the rules.
    In other words, firms cannot say the consumer has signed the agreement and knew what s/he was signing; in principles-based, it is a question of right and wrong. I know which I prefer.


  41. @Vincent

    Do we need a law for every conceivable sin? Well you tell me but since financial transactions are at the heart of every conceivable enterprise we enter into surely something should be on the books covering one of the deadly sins (greed) to protect the vulnerable…..
    BTW when should the Central Bank step in if there are no regulations governing same?

    Don’t get me started on what should be regulated or not, we all know right from wrong, evil from good, but Gov’t still drafts laws to ensure that we adhere to acceptable behaviour.

  42. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Sergeant

    The Central Bank makes the rules and regulations. Its job is to manage the Financial System of Barbados.
    Did you really keyboard :”Govt still drafts laws TO ENSURE THAT WE ADHERE TO ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR”. Where are you living boazee? ENSURE? LoL!!

  43. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin at 10:09 AM

    Barbados was not called Little England by chance. In Barbados the system of governance was principle based. All angles were covered by applying the principles. Even at school( and at home) a breach of common sense was a breach of the rules.
    @ Hal, I like the principle based system as well. Leave the litigious system for those who want to exploit the poor and the defenseless.
    The shift is getting us nowhere fast.

  44. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    David BU

    We educate our young citizens with the expectation that they will apply and modify what we taught them. We do not boast of our education to score Brownie points. We educate them to make a living and have a life. Theoretical? You do jest. Only the lazy prefer not to implement.


  45. @Vincent
    At primary school by age ten every child masters the computation of simple and compound interest rates. No need for public propaganda. Use the education the taxpayers provided. Or those were in the Halcyon days of yore, Sergeant?
    +++++++++++++++++
    That’s the problem we all know and can compute but Are Financial Institutions obliged to provide the actual interest rate or the actual cost of borrowing? Are borrowers paying interest on a declining balance or the original balance? I see the long lines at Courts Accounts payable desk move on…..

    I am living my halcyon days no boss (except the wife) no reports, no employee disputes to referee, no work politics, lots of interesting reading, some travel and lots of laughter and a reminder “Don’t sweat the small stuff”


  46. @Sargeant

    You forgot to add where does the inclination to engage in activist behaviour comes. This is necessary to force change.

  47. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David BU

    What is the difference between Arithmetic that is applicable to finance and “financial intelligence and commonsense”?


  48. Hi Kim:

    I think that there are limits to the amount that persons can quality. This should protect consumers from themselves. A high percentage of repossessions for non payment would suggest that there is a major problem. If you have that rate, then that would be useful to the discussion. If not, then we will try to get it.


  49. @Vincent

    You may have the ability to add/subtract/divide/calculate simple and compound interest but this has nothing with ones ability to inform the best personal decisions.

  50. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin at 9:52 AM and 9:57 AM

    A very interesting observation. I believe some think they can learn economics by osmosis.
    You may also notice that they headed these institutions in the midst of the financial meltdown. I am not at all suggesting causation!!!
    On the other hand Nobel Laureates have formed and headed financial institutions that failed.Like other disciplines there are always unknown unknowns. C’est la Vie.!

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