Payday Loans: The organization has asked him to move his cheque-cashing franchise away from the Ontario Works office payday-loan and cheque-cashing business — just steps from London’s welfare office — is “cause for grave concern,” the London Homeless Coalition has appealed to the owner to find a different location.
The Money Plus Xpress franchise — on the main floor of Market Tower at Dundas and Richmond streets — is owned by Tim Best, husband of former mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best, and is only 75 steps away, up an escalator, to the front door of the city’s main Ontario Works office, which handles welfare. In an open letter, Gordon Russell, chair of the London Homeless Coalition, said the location is “cause for grave concern.”
“It is clear that the location of this new Money Plus Xpress is strategic: It is positioned to take advantage of precisely those people who are least able to afford its services, but who will be sorely tempted to do so by proximity and the empty promise of ready money.”
In the letter, he said he’s written to Best, asking him to move his franchise to a “more suitable site” and copied Best’s landlord, Farhi Holdings, with the request.
Reached Friday, Best said he hadn’t received anything from the group. “I haven’t seen the letter,” he said, adding he had no comment.
Asked if he’d consider moving the business, Best said again that he hadn’t seen the letter. Asked if he’d heard from the London Homeless Coalition, Best repeated he had no comment, but added: “I haven’t heard from them, no. I know nothing about this.”
In the past, Best said he chose the location because it’s owned by the same landlord for his Friday Knight Lights bar, Shmuel Farhi.
At the time, Best was asked about the proximity of his business to the Ontario Works office, responding “It’s not the worst location.”
The business charges 2% per cashed cheque. A borrower has two weeks to pay the money back, at which time money is added.