Kiva conducts regular, ongoing monitoring of all Lending Partners, but only posts status updates here in response to relevant, major changes at the partner.

Status update — November 1, 2017

After almost 6 years of partnership and more than USD290k in loans raised, Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) and Kiva have agreed to end their partnership. Unlike many of our Lending Partners in emerging markets, U.S. based microfinance lenders have access to lower and more flexible sources of capital. In addition, the ongoing investment of resources to upload requests to Kiva and report on repayments ends up costing organizations more in developed markets where the cost of labor is substantially higher. Thus, the value proposition represented by Kiva's interest-free financing is smaller for these organizations. LEDC has submitted its final repayment to Kiva and all their loans have ended. We thank LEDC for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors. 


Partner Description:

Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) is a community-based nonprofit that equips Latinos and other DC-area residents with the skills and financial tools to create a better future for their families and communities. Participants in our programs learn how to buy and stay in their homes, join with their neighbors to keep their rental housing affordable, and start or expand small businesses.

LEDC activities are diverse, include providing technical assistance and a variety of business trainings on topics ranging from recordkeeping and paying taxes to building websites and marketing; providing business loans between $5,000 and $50,000 to qualified start-ups and existing small businesses; housing counseling for families to buy their first home and save their homes from foreclosure; and tenant organizing to help residents keep their rental housing affordable. By operating in the larger metro areas of Washington, D.C. -- including Maryland and Virginia -- LEDC works with approximately 6,000 people every year.

Kiva lenders’ funds are used to help LEDC support even more small businesses in low- and moderate-income communities in Washington, D.C. The funds are used to ease loan requirements, including decreasing collateral, interest rates and fees associated with loan disbursement. With Kiva capital, LEDC reaches out to borrowers that may not have met all of LEDC’s existing criteria, allowing the organization to grow its lending operations through its new subsidiary the Community Asset Fund for Entrepreneurs.

A unique approach to community-based economic development:

With its small business loans and technical assistance programs, LEDC helps small business owners and entrepreneurs in the D.C. area to strengthen their business skills and access capital to improve their lives and strengthen the small business community.

Additionally, LEDC provides classes, workshops and individual counseling for home ownership clients to help them purchase their first homes. This includes helping with credit repair and applying for the D.C. Home Purchase Assistance Program. The organization also runs an affordable housing program and a foreclosure intervention initiative, which help struggling renters and homeowners to negotiate the best long-term housing solutions for their families and communities.

LEDC helped this borrower and his family keep their home through a modification to his home loan:

Watch a short video about the organization’s work and impact.



Image courtesy of Latino Economic Development Center.

Repayment Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Start Date On Kiva Jan 7, 2013 Oct 12, 2005
Total Loans $290,775 $1,959,851,975
Amount of raised Inactive loans $0 $372,750
Number of raised Inactive loans 0 341
Amount of Paying Back Loans $0 $157,781,285
Number of Paying Back Loans 0 181,865
Amount of Ended Loans $290,775 $1,771,710,075
Number of Ended Loans 38 2,378,176
Delinquency Rate 0.00% 11.74%
Amount in Arrears $0 $11,302,177
Outstanding Portfolio $0 $96,293,849
Number of Loans Delinquent 0 50,859
Default Rate 9.93% 1.83%
Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted $28,887 $32,353,831
Number of Ended Loans Defaulted 7 84,926
Currency Exchange Loss Rate 0.00% 0.49%
Amount of Currency Exchange Loss $0 $12,017,791
Refund Rate 6.19% 0.54%
Amount of Refunded Loans $18,000 $10,526,300
Number of Refunded Loans 2 9,596

Loan Characteristics On Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Loans to Women Borrowers 45.45% 78.24%
Average Loan Size $7,719 $392
Average Individual Loan Size $7,719 $589
Average Group Loan Size $0 $1,892
Average number of borrowers per group 0 8.3
Average GDP per capita (PPP) in local country $54,800 $5,599
Average Loan Size / GDP per capita (PPP) 14.09% 7.00%
Average Time to Fund a Loan 10.25 days 8.93 days
Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan $752.81 $43.85
  Average Loan Term 29.53 months 11.47 months

Journaling Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Total Journals 2 1,178,858
  Journaling Rate 5.26% 42.23%
  Average Number of Comments Per Journal 0.00 0.02
  Average Number of Recommendations Per Journal 0.00 0.57

Borrowing Cost Comparison (based on 2012 data)

    This Lending Partner Median for MFI's in Country All Kiva Partners
  Average Cost to Borrower 12% PY N/A 27.02% PY
  Profitability (return on assets) 2% N/A -3.10%
  Average Loan Size (% of per capita income) N/A N/A 0.00%

Country Fast Facts

Country:
United States
Capital:
Washington DC
Official Language:
English (offical) 79.2%, Spanish 12.9%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 3.3%, other 0.9%
Population:
318,892,103
Avg Annual Income:
$54,800
Labor Force:
farming, forestry, and fishing: 0.7%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts: 20.3%, managerial, professional, and technical: 37.3%, sales and office: 24.2%, other services: 17.6%
Population Below Poverty Line:
N/A
Literacy Rate:
99%
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000):
6.17 deaths
Life Expectancy:
78.64 years

Lending Partner Staff