“There has been an influx for three weeks, as in 2008 during the financial crisis, but we are dealing with it, we are a public service to help people who are looking to have money”, assures Franck Painmesure, director general of the Municipal credit of Toulouse. Formerly called the Mont de Piety or “My aunt”, the public establishment which manages pawnbrokers, is experiencing a 10 to 15% increase in attendance in the Pink City, with nearly 80 people who push its door daily from the rue des Lois, a stone’s throw from the Capitol.
Increase in the price of energy, fuel, interest rates and inflation weigh on the wallets of the most fragile Toulouse residents who are increasingly requesting this municipal service by putting “on the nail” jewelry, paintings, trinkets or anything of value in exchange for a sum of money delivered promptly.
In the waiting room to estimate and then make a contract for a pawnbroker, everyone looks at their feet, uneasy about coming to deposit an object because of financial difficulties. Rahmouna, reception agent for twenty years and mother of three children, comes for the first time to entrust two pairs of earrings from her first two daughters and her engagement ring, all in gold. In exchange, she received 110 euros. Even though her two eldest are independent, this single mother is struggling to make ends meet, still having a 17-year-old daughter to support.
“I found out about Crédit Municipal on the Internet because I was looking for a way to have some money for food,” confides this forty-year-old. I pay 800 euros in rent for an F3 but I’m not complaining, I’m happy to have a roof over my head. It’s hard to leave your things, which have sentimental value, but I hope to get them back soon. Everything went up all of a sudden: oil, flour, clothes, electricity, so we have to cope. »
This Toulousaine will have to repay this loan within six months with interest or extend her contract. The average loan is around 600 euros. “We are a bit of a last resort for these people in difficulty and in this complicated period, we are seeing a lot of new people, specifies Franck Paindessous. We are not making a profit, we are here to help them in this difficult time and find a solution. The Crédit municipal de Toulouse saw 9,000 people pass through last year for a loan budget of 12 million euros. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 6,000 loans have been granted for approximately four million euros.