Down and Out in Beverly Hills: Rolexes, Picassos Hit Pawnshops

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



Down and Out in Beverly Hills: Rolexes, Picassos Hit Pawnshops

By Michael Janofsky

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The worse the economy gets, the better it is for Jordan Tabach-Bank.

``Business is booming,'' said Tabach-Bank, the chief executive officer of Beverly Loan Co. in Beverly Hills, California.

Beverly Loan is a pawnshop. Not just any pawnshop, but the kind that caters to people who hock Cartiers, Harley- Davidsons and Oscar statuettes when they need cash. They really need it now, Tabach-Bank said from a third-floor office, protected by bulletproof glass, off his showroom in the Bank of America building near Rodeo Drive.

``I've never seen so many bankers, lawyers, doctors and actors'' with valuable things to pawn, he said. He pointed to an 18-carat white gold bracelet with 69 diamonds ($2,900) and an 18-carat yellow gold Rolex Yachtmaster II (``a steal'' at $18,500).

With credit drying up at regular lenders, ``in many cases now, we're not just the bank of last resort,'' Tabach-Bank said. ``We're the bank of only resort.''

High-end pawnshops aren't like most of the 10,000 dealers affiliated with the National Pawnbrokers Association, a Keller, Texas-based trade group. The average U.S. pawn transaction is $75, according to the association's Web site.

$2.7 Million Necklace

At Tabach-Bank's shop, ``confidential collateral loans,'' as they're called, have been made on art works by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Amounts loaned range from several thousand dollars to ``six- and seven-figure deals,'' he said, with clients using the money to cover the mortgage, make alimony payments or finance cosmetic surgery. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&sid=aQhOlWCOHawM&refer=home