# You’re Pre-Qualified for a 13% Loan! (That Really Costs 170%)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/21-hats-podcast-502638/you-re-pre-qualified-for-a-13-loan-that-really-costs-170
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/21-hats-podcast-502638/you-re-pre-qualified-for-a-13-loan-that-really-costs-170.md
Podcast: [21 Hats Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/21-hats-podcast-502638)
Published: 2026-08-04T09:01:12+00:00
Episode link: https://21hats.com/youre-pre-qualified-for-a-13-loan-that-really-costs-170/
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73406625/21_hats_episode_305_stereo.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/21-hats-podcast-502638/episodes/you-re-pre-qualified-for-a-13-loan-that-really-costs-170
Duration seconds: 3029

## Resource

This week, we begin with the story of Paloma Corona, the owner of a thriving preschool in Los Angeles who needed money to expand to a second location. She thought she was borrowing at an annual percentage rate of 13 percent. In reality, the effective APR was 170 percent. She also thought she was taking out a loan. Instead, she was placed in a merchant cash advance—an increasingly common form of financing that can sidestep many of the laws governing traditional loans. The daily payments quickly began draining not only the profits from her business, but also her personal savings. Her business survived, but only because a nonprofit lender stepped in to refinance the debt. Paloma’s story is especially troubling because she wasn’t reckless, uninformed, or running a failing business. She was trying to build a good business. But she was up against a financing industry that has become remarkably skilled at making extraordinarily expensive money look fast, easy, and affordable. My guests today have all been fighting this problem from different vantage points. Jay Goltz owns a picture framing business and a home furnishings store in Chicago. Ami Kassar helps business owners secure SBA and other responsible financing. And Louis Caditz-Peck, who helped build LendingClub’s small business operation, is now executive director of the Responsible Business Lending Coalition . In our conversation, we talk about why good businesses get steered into bad financing, how brokers can earn more by recommending the most expensive products, why offers embedded in platforms such as QuickBooks, PayPal, and DoorDash can be especially tempting, and what business owners should do before accepting fast money. We also ask what seems like a remarkably simple question: What could possibly be the argument…

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