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A Legacy Of Lending

Ideal Detroit Loan Corporation does business the old-fashioned way.

David Bussell, president of the Ideal Detroit Loan Corporation, and his mother, Joan, the financial

secretary, go over loan payments at a board meeting.

G

Barbara Lewis I Contributing Writer

etting enough money to start a busi-
ness was often challenging in the
1920s. Personal credit wasn't easy to
come by, especially for Jewish immigrants.
Going to banks, where they might face
anti-Semitism, could be a hassle. Many new
Americans relied on pawnshops for loans.
Israel "Sam" Bussell, an immigrant from
Belarus, and some of his small businessman
friends found a better way to help each other
secure their financial futures: They started
the Ideal Detroit Loan Corporation. Bussell
served as an early president.
Bussell made axles for General Motors and
then started his own company, Detroit Barrel
and Box. Sam's son, Harry, also served as
Ideal Detroit president and used loans from
the corporation to help grow a business recy-
cling steel drums.
Today, Sam and Harry's descendants are
among those keeping the loan corporation
active.
Sam's grandson Joel Bussell, a retired
attorney from West Bloomfield, is a board
member, as is his son, David, a mechanical
engineer from Southfield. Joel's wife, Joan, is
financial secretary
The corporation continues to help its
members through small business and per-
sonal loans, functioning pretty much the way
it always did.
In order to get a loan, you have to be a
member, but membership is open to anyone
who buys $50 worth of stock in the corpora-
tion (purchasers receive an impressive stock

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November 12 2015

JIN

Joel Bussell, a board member and former president of the Ideal

Detroit Loan Corporation, writes a check for a loan applicant.

Israel "Sam" Bussell,
owner of Detroit
Barrel and Box,
was one of the loan
company's founders.

certificate) and deposits at least $100 in a
savings account.
After that, members can borrow up to
two-and-a half times as much as their sav-
ings, to be repaid in a specific number of
installments. The maximum the group will
lend is $10,000 over a 36-month term.
The corporation charges 5 percent interest
per year of the loan and 1 percent per year
for credit life insurance. The amount of the
interest and insurance is taken out of the
loan amount up front.
Say a member with $1,000 in savings
wants a $2,400 loan, promising to pay it
back at $100 a month over two years. With
$240 deducted for interest (5 percent for
each year) and $48 deducted for credit insur-
ance (1 percent for each year), the member
receives a check for $2,112.
The corporation invests its assets, which
now total about $500,000. At the end of the
year, the interest on the assets, which has
been averaging 3.5 to 5 percent, and the
interest from loans is disbursed as a dividend
to members who have had active loans dur-

ing the year.
A 5 percent dividend on $1,000 would be
$50; after two years, the savings account in
our example would be worth $1,100.
If the member continued to take loans,
the following year's dividend would be a little
larger because it would be based on a larger
savings account.
West Bloomfield business owner Hartley
Harris, the current corporation president,
was introduced to Ideal Detroit Loan by his
father, Louis. Harris, 62, joined 40 years ago
and took out his first loan at age 23 to buy a
truck that he used to start his first business.
Now Harris' daughters and sons-in-law,
Mychal and Jason Glass, and Erin and Kevin
Chupak, all have accounts. Harris and his
wife, Debi, also opened accounts for their
four grandchildren, ages 1 to 5.
Members realize that making a series of
loans can build a small account into a size-
able nest egg by the time a grandchild comes
of age.
Joel Bussell's grandson Jacob Bussell, 21,
used his account this year for a loan to buy

a used car. Another grandson is using his
account to help with college costs.
The corporation has about 150 members,
including many immigrants from the former
Soviet Union. Most have between $1,000 and
$10,000 in their corporation accounts. Most,
but not all, of the members are Jewish; ifs
certainly not a requirement. New members
are welcome. The board hopes to boost
membership to at least 200.
Loan applications can be approved in as
little as a half-hour, said David Bussell, but
loans that are for an amount greater than the
member's savings and loans going to minors
or members over age 70 need an insurable
co-signer.
The corporation's affairs are handled the
old-fashioned way. Savings and loans are
recorded in a pair of battered black ledger
books. Promissory notes are filled in by hand
on paper forms, and the checks are written
by hand as well. Borrowers make their pay-
ments by checks or money orders sent to the
corporation's post office box.
The board meets for about an hour
every Monday evening (except on national
or Jewish holidays) at Congregation Beth
Shalom in Oak Park.
The corporation's expenses are less than
$12,000 a year, which covers a small salary
for the bookkeeper and small stipends for
board members.
Ideal Detroit Loan is "a great way to get
money in a fast and easy way without a lot of
red tape," Harris said.
And, added David Bussell, it's much less
expensive than borrowing via credit card. *