The Crédit municipal de Nancy has just launched at the end of January 2021 a device called “social emergency loan”. The goal is to help people in great difficulty following the consequences of the health crisis.
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Pledge your game console to have a little money to make ends meet. This is obviously not an ideal solution but it is a helping hand offered by the Crédit municipal de Nancy to help the most modest people or students to get through the crisis.
In addition to its traditional pawn shops, the institution is launching a “social emergency loan”. It is a question of obtaining 200 euros against the deposit of an object, even of low value. Interest has been waived for the occasion.
“We have seen people coming or coming back in much more difficulty and for very small loans. The objective is to allow these people in great difficulty to be able to finance current expenses, races, electricity bills or full gasoline. “, explains Michel Côme, director of Crédit Municipal de Nancy
Households in difficulty and students
The beneficiaries will be able to abandon the object and thus keep the loan amount free of charge. They will be auctioned and the proceeds donated in full to charities. “We are a credit and social assistance institution. We do pawn shops because it is our mission but the difference is that this time there is no link between the 200 euros loaned and the value of the deposited object. And no obligation to repay.“
Initially, the system is open to Nancy households identified by the Nancy municipal social action center, then, in the coming days, to households in the Metropolitan area and students in great difficulty. To allow young people to benefit from it, the categories of objects admitted have been broadened and now include smartphones or game consoles. “Our audience is 80% female and we tend to have retirees, which testifies to their great social precariousness … We are interested in the distress situation that some students may experience, which is why we are opening up deposits to the telephone or to computers“, adds Michel Côme.
An ancient institution
The Crédit municipal de Nancy, the only one in Lorraine, dates from 1834. For a long time, these institutions were called the pawnshops. Despite its outdated image, it offers an alternative to bank loans by offering a sum of money against the temporary deposit of a valuable object.
Excluding the crisis mechanism, Crédit municipal lends sums corresponding to 70% of the estimated value of the deposited object for six renewable months (with interest above 30 euros).
95% of beneficiaries end up coming to collect their belongings. The remaining 5% of items are auctioned.
Items that can be pledged:
• Gold jewelry with or without precious stones: necklaces, long necklaces, bracelets, medals, pendants, earrings, chains, rings, broken gold,…
• Fantasy jewels
• Fine or cultured pearls mounted as a necklace or bracelet
• Gold and silver coins
• Watches (if possible with invoice or certificate)
• Sculptures and paintings
• Old paintings and drawings
• Bronzes, ceramics, ancient works of art
• Collector’s books, comics
• Authorized militaria and collections of hairstyles and uniforms (according to regulations and excluding firearms)
• Old toys: Dinky toys, dolls, tin toys etc…
• Smartphones
• Laptop
• Game consoles
• Wines and spirits (Cognacs, Champagnes, …)
• Massive silverware: housewives and cutlery, shaped pieces (coffee makers, teapots, dishes, etc.)
• Silver metal: housewives
• Crystal: Baccarat, Saint-Louis, Daum, etc.
• Glassworks, ceramics
• Musical instruments: guitars, trumpets, saxophones, violins,…
• Leather goods: branded bags (Hermès, Vuitton, Lancel, etc.) / if possible with invoice or certificate
• Textiles and fashion accessories: clothes and scarves (in good condition and preferably with invoices)
• Carpets
• Perfumes (in cellophane), Branded pens.
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