The company offers high-interest payday loans, offering up to $4,000 at 279.5% interest.[1] The company has filed over 110,000 lawsuits against its borrowers.[1] The company is one of the top campaign donors in Tennessee, lobbying regulators to loosen restrictions on payday loan activities.[1]
History
The company, then-called Advance Pay Day, was established by Michael and Tina Hodges in Nashville, Tennessee in the 1990s, offering payday loans.[1] By 2010, Advance had approximately two dozen stores and generated $15 million in revenue.[1]
After the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which sought to limit predatory payday loan practices, Advance created a political action committee and hired lobbyists to lobby Tennessee politicians.[1] Tennessee legislators subsequently passed a bill, signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam, to loosen restrictions on high-interest payday lenders.[1] Following this, Advance's business boomed, with the company expanding to 105 locations by the end of the 2010s.[1] By 2019, the company self-reported earnings of $392 million.[1]
The Hodges have donated over $3 million to Donald Trump's presidential campaigns.[1] In a 2019 recording uncovered by The Washington Post, Michael Hodges said those donations gave him better access to Trump.[1] In 2020, the Trump administration appointed a new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who rescinded many payday loan regulations.[1]
Associations
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Some of Advance Financial's offerings, including payday loans, have been described as "exploitative financial products to the working poor," since the short-term loans carry annual interest of up to 450%.[7]
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