Oakland Sends Social Equity Marijuana Licensees To Collections Over Unpaid Loans
About half those are “only one or two payments behind,” the report states
Marijuana regulators in Oakland, California, have begun referring a handful of social equity licensees to the city’s collections department after they defaulted on loans intended to help get their companies started.
The situation illustrates both how difficult it has become for mom-and-pop businesses to succeed in California’s legal marijuana industry and the tenuous nature of social equity companies, industry insiders said.
“We can’t send our most vulnerable, impacted people into debt, and this is exactly what this is doing and exactly what we were fearful of,” said Amber Senter, the CEO of Oakland-based Makr House, who has worked for years with Oakland on crafting its social equity program.
According to a report shared with the Oakland Cannabis Commission on Oct. 7, 59 social equity license recipients have secured $3.7 million in loans from the city that were issued beginning in late 2018.
To Read The Rest Of This Article On MJ Biz Daily, Click Here
