Wednesday, April 19, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
31
Loan denials common for Oregon pot workers
By Joseph Ditzler
The Bulletin
BEND (AP) — When
Melissa Johnson needed a new
car last summer, she bought a
used Kia Soul from the dealer-
ship in Bend.
She drove away with an
affordable payment and rela-
tively low interest rate on an
auto loan. But a week later,
she said, she received a call:
“You need to come into the
dealership.”
Turns out, Johnson said in
March, financing was denied
because her income comes
from her job in customer ser-
vice at Bloom Well, a retail
marijuana shop on Division
Street in Bend.
The sales staff at the deal-
ership, which declined to
comment for this story, tried
to find a solution for Johnson.
“They assured me that
they’d work with me to keep
me in the car,” she said. “The
head guy kept on it until they
found someone who’d work
with me, but at a higher inter-
est rate and a higher payment.”
Marijuana may be legal in
Oregon, but it’s still criminal-
ized under federal law. That
means most banks, which are
federally regulated, shun mari-
juana businesses as too risky.
But even the employees of
marijuana growers, proces-
sors, wholesalers and retail-
ers face obstacles when they
apply for car loans, home
mortgages and other consumer
financing.
Credit unions, includ-
ing Selco Community Credit
Union and locally based Mid
Oregon Credit Union, have no
problem lending to workers
with paychecks from mari-
juana businesses, but many
large banks, including Bank
of America and Wells Fargo,
will not.
“It is currently Wells Far-
go’s policy not to provide auto
loans or mortgage loans to
employees of marijuana busi-
nesses,” Tom Unger, a bank
spokesman in Portland, wrote
in an email. “We are a feder-
ally charted bank and based on
federal laws, the sale and use
of marijuana is still illegal.”
Kris Yamamoto, a spokes-
man for Bank of America,
wrote in an email that any
income derived from “a busi-
ness activity not permitted by
federal law could not be con-
sidered for loan purposes.”
At Mid Oregon Credit
Union, in Bend, CEO Bill
Anderson said that as long as
the applicant is qualified, with
a steady paycheck, an occupa-
tion is not necessarily a factor.
But the credit union will not
make a commercial loan to a
marijuana business.
“If you have W-2 income
from a dispensary or some
other marijuana-related
business, that’s OK,” he said.
“It’s the business itself we
have a lot of trouble with.”
Selco Community Credit
Union also accepts loan appli-
cations from members who
work in the marijuana busi-
ness, but not the business
owners.
“From our perspective, it’s
just another employee and eli-
gible just like anybody else,”
said Laura Illig, Selco vice
president of marketing.
Banks and credit unions
may deny a loan for any num-
ber of reasons, as long as race,
gender or national origin do
not play a part, said Hal Scog-
gins, president of Farleigh
Wadda Witt, a Portland law
firm that specializes in bank-
ing and finance. As for deal-
ing with individual borrowers
who work with marijuana, he
said no one policy prevails.
Lenders view risk in many
forms, not just a borrower’s
ability to pay. Banks and credit
unions may be concerned that
employees of a marijuana shop
may use their personal vehicle
to make deliveries or use the
property they purchased with
a mortgage to set up a mari-
juana growing operation.
“That makes it possible
that the feds could do a forfei-
ture action because (the prop-
erty) is used in that activity.
The lender would normally
have the innocent lender
defense: ‘I loan you money to
buy a house and 10 acres and
you end up using the property
to grow marijuana,’” Scog-
gins said. “If I know you’re
using that property to grow
marijuana, I don’t have that
innocent-lender defense and
that puts my security at risk.”
At Robberson Ford in
Bend, business manager Aaron
McCann said car buyers who
finance their purchases often
do not need to show proof of
income, if their credit scores
are high enough. But credit
reports often state where the
applicant works, he said. The
dealership sales force doesn’t
discriminate against marijuana
employees looking for auto-
mobiles, McCann said.
“I just want to sell cars,” he
said. “It’s our policy, no matter
who comes on the lot, no mat-
ter what their field of business
and how much they make,
that everyone is treated with
respect. Our policy is to let the
lending institution decide.”
The cannabis workforce is
growing. The Oregon Liquor
Control Commission has
issued nearly 8,500 marijuana-
worker permits, including
some to seasonal workers from
beyond Oregon, even in Can-
ada, Mexico and Europe, said
Mark Pettinger, spokesman
for the OLCC Recreational
Marijuana Program. Another
5,178 permits were approved
but not issued until the appli-
cant pays a fee, he said.
Any employee who han-
dles marijuana must have a
permit; however, support staff
such as bookkeepers, market-
ing specialists, or tech sup-
port workers do not, he said.
Numbers of permits by county
were not available, he said.
Travis Eno, a “cannabis
consultant,” or customer ser-
vice representative, at Jen-
ny’s Dispensary on NE Third
Street in Bend, said he, too,
was initially turned down
for a loan last year when
he tried to purchase a used
Ford F-150 pickup truck at
Hertz Car Sales in Bend. A
former Marine heavy equip-
ment operator with two tours
in Iraq, Eno said he works
about 20 hours a week at the
dispensary.
“They ran the loan appli-
cation through 30 different
finance agencies before they
found one,” he said. Some
declined his application, cit-
ing his income from an activ-
ity considered illegal under
federal law, he said.
The auto loan denials have
Eno concerned about obtain-
ing a mortgage. His wife’s
income is on that application,
but not his, he said.
“We talk so much about the
good things in the industry, but
there’s a dark circle around the
people in it,” Eno said.
170 W. Cascade Ave., Sisters (In Barclay Square, behind BJ’s Ice Cream)
Offi ces also located in Bend and Redmond
To view all our listings go to: central-oregon.kw.com
14012 Hawks Beard, BBR • $1,599,000
,
• 5-bedroom home with 5 ensuite bathrooms
• Overlooks Glaze Meadow and Heron Lake
• Vaulted cathedral ceilings with
wide-plank oak fl oors
• Two bunk rooms; Sleeps 20
CAROL ZOSEL, Broker, SRES (Senior Real Estate Specialist)
503-616-8712 • carolzosel@kw.com
NG
COMI
SOON
Glaze Meadow 97, BBR • $825,000
• View of 3 lakes, Black Butte
• Spectacular frontage on 2nd hole
• 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,000+ sq. ft. home
• Ample room to expand
• Half-mile to Glaze Meadow pools/recreation
ED DERKSEN,
KSEN Broker
B k
503-706-4456 • derksened@gmail.com
20155 Marsh Rd., Bend • $749,000
,
• 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2,000 sq. ft. home
• Full Cascade mountain views
• Open fl oorplan, main-level master
• 8.75 acres, 5 acres underground irrigation
• Barn or covered RV parking, shop
SHELLY HUMMEL, Broker
541-480-8523 • shelly@sellbend.com
3027 SW Juniper, Redmond • $285,000
,
• 4-bedroom, 2-bath home
• Vaulted ceiling in living room
• Propane fi replace
• Fenced yard
CHUCK HARPER, Broker, RENE (Real Estate Negotiation Expert)
503-915-9417 • chuckharper@kw.com
COMM
ERCIA
L
411 E. Cascade Ave., Sisters • Offi ces for Rent
• Great 2nd fl oor offi ce suites
• Ranging in size from 150 to 230 sq. ft.
• Fireplace, shared conference room
• Elevator expenses included
• Rents start at $215
STEVE MCGHEHEY,
HEHEY Broker
B k
541-420-8103 • stevemcghehey@kw.com
Each offi ce independently owned and operated.