Loan Rangers
Tax season is here, and predatory lenders swindle millions of dollars of hard-earned cash from low-income New Yorkers every year—people like our Habitat-NYC homeowners and residents of the communities we serve.
Join Habitat-NYC’s Loan Rangers Public Awareness Campaign and help stop predatory lending in New York City. By committing a few hours of your time, you will help alert low-income New Yorkers to some common deceptive lending abuses and to better alternatives.
Loan Rangers Public Awareness Campaign kicks off February 2008 and takes aim at Rapid Tax Refund Loan Scams
Your assignment: To help curb predatory income-tax preparers who trick low-wage working New Yorkers into taking out "short-term" loans on anticipated income tax returns—loans that often carry costly hidden charges and excessive interest rates. You also will provide information with alternative, free tax preparations services.
To volunteer as a Loan Ranger:
› Attend a brief, one-hour training session
› Commit to spending a few hours distributing informational flyers in one of the communities where Habitat-NYC builds, including Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant and the South Bronx.
Habitat-NYC provides:
› Training on how tax refund loan scams work
› Flyers explaining deceptive tax refund loan practices and offering free alternatives
› A guide to community centers, schools, churches, businesses and other places where you can leave flyers
› Fact sheets to help you explain the dangers of tax refund loan scams
Training sessions are 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm at Habitat-NYC’s offices in Lower Manhattan:
› Thusday, February 28Habitat for Humanity – New York City
› Wednesday, March 5
› Thursday, March 13
111 John Street, 23rd Floor
New York, NY
Contact cclark@habitatnyc.org to register or request more information or call 212-991-4000, ext. 338.
If you are interested in spreading the word on RALs, but you are unable to attend a training, please share Habitat – NYC's RAL Flyer with your friends, family, neighbors, congregation, and anyone else who might benefit.
To learn more about Rapid Tax Refund Loans, click here.
To read or download our RAL flyer, click here.
This message is brought to you by Habitat for Humanity – New York City, working to empower Habitat homeowners and all low-income New Yorkers.
