Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 4, 1 April 2004 — OHA launches micro-loan test [ARTICLE]

OHA launches micro-loan test

By Ka Wai Ola staff On Mon., March 15, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs launched a micro-loan program offering Native Hawaiians consumer and emergency loans with a lower interest rate and lower monthly payments than most other financial lending institutions. The Consumer Revolving Micro-Loan Pilot Program (CMLP) is scheduled to run through June 2004, after whieh OHA's Board of Trustees will review the trial program and determine whether or not to extend it. Trustee Boyd Mossman said the program is a good example of "OHA as an organization working to implement new programs that benefit Native Hawaiian." "This is just the beginning," Mossman said. "We will monitor this program, and hopefully, it will increase substantially in the future." The program will provide small loans to pay for financial emergen-

cies such as a death in the family, automobile breakdowns or home repairs. People would also be eligible for CMLP loans to pay for career development opportunities, including course instruction, certification programs or required equipment purchase for classes in their current career field. The microloans will be limited to $7,500 per individual for a maximum term of five years at a fixed interest rate of five percent. In order to serve the needs of applicants in financial emergencies, the goal of the program is to disburse loans within a week. "We understand that most of the applicants will need this money immediately," said OHA loan officer Gilbert Fernandes. "If the loan process takes more than a week or two, the emergency will most likely be over." In order to expedite the loan approval process, the CMLP staff will use Internet credit reports whieh ean assess a loan applicant's

credit history within minutes. In its first five months, the loan program will be able to disburse up to $500,000 in consumer loans. The Board of Trustees has yet to determine the amount the pilot program will receive beyond that. The Board of Trustees authorized the CMLP in November 2003 and supplied it with two positions - a loan officer and an account clerk. OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving

Loan Fund staff will facilitate management of the program. CMLP applicants must provide proof of Hawaiian ancestry via a copy of their birth certificate or by OHA's Hawaiian Registry Program. For information on the Micro-Loan Program, contact Gilbert Fernandes at 594-1829. For information on OHA's Hawaiian Registry Program, visit www.oha.org. ■