Bears LendingTwenty years of fast, fair lending across the Southeast.
We fund every loan with our own capital and service it with our own team — that's why a payment question gets answered on the first call and a vehicle title comes back the same day it's paid off.
FL · GA · AL
One store in Jacksonville, one idea
Robert Hale opened the first Bears Lending store on Blanding Boulevard in 2004 after ten years running stores for a national chain. The idea was simple and, at the time, unusual: short-term credit should be quick, priced in plain sight, and handled by people who know your name.
That meant printing the finance charge and APR in large type on every agreement, explaining it out loud before anyone signed, and never adding the insurance products and processing fees that quietly doubled the cost of a loan at competitors. It also meant funding every loan with our own money, so nobody's application was ever sold to another lender.
Twenty years later there are 26 stores from Pensacola to Savannah to Mobile, an online application, and ten loan products from a $200 payday advance to a $5,000 personal loan. The agreement still prints the fee in large type, and the founder still answers the store phones on Saturdays.
Six things we do on every loan
These aren't slogans. Each one is a store policy with a page in the training manual, and each one is checked in the quarterly compliance review.
Fees in writing, out loud
The finance charge, APR and due date are printed on the agreement and read aloud before you sign.
Every loanNo add-ons
No credit insurance, no processing fee, no origination fee. The posted rate is the whole cost.
Every loanOur own capital
We fund every loan ourselves. Your application is never sold or brokered.
Direct lenderCall before the due date
Tell us you're short before the date and we'll move it, split it, or apply the state grace period. No fees for asking.
Every loanTitles back same day
Pay off a title loan and the title is handed back in store with a lien release before you leave.
Title loansA real person answers
Every store line is answered by a team member during business hours. No phone tree.
Every storeThe four people responsible for this site
Every rate, agreement and guide has a named owner. These are the names.
28 years in consumer finance. Opened the first Bears Lending store in Jacksonville in 2004 after a decade as a regional director at a national cash-advance chain. Sets pricing and store policy.
Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager. Reviews every rate page, agreement and disclosure on this site before it publishes, and signs the quarterly compliance review.
19 years running pawn and title locations across South Georgia. Trains every store team on valuation, right-to-cure notices and the INFiN best practices.
Accredited Financial Counselor. Writes and fact-checks the money guides, and runs the credit-counseling referral program used in the Florida grace period.
Who writes this site, and who checks it
Rate pages, agreements and disclosures are drafted by store operations, reviewed by the Chief Compliance Officer, and re-reviewed every quarter or whenever a state law changes. Money guides are written by the Consumer Education Lead and fact-checked against the state statute before publication.
Every rate page shows the date of its last compliance review and the next scheduled one. If you find a number on this site that doesn't match your agreement, call (855) 555-0199 — the agreement controls, and we'll fix the page.
Questions about this page
Is Bears Lending a direct lender?
Yes. We fund every loan with our own capital under licenses in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, and service every loan in-house. We never sell or broker applications.
Who owns Bears Lending?
Bears Lending, LLC is privately held by its founder, Robert Hale, and has no outside investors or parent company.
How many stores are there?
Twenty-six: eleven in Florida, nine in Georgia and six in Alabama. All share one phone number, (855) 555-0199.
What associations does Bears Lending belong to?
INFiN, the financial services trade association that sets best-practice standards for short-term lenders; the National Pawnbrokers Association; and the Better Business Bureau, where we hold an A+ rating.
How do I file a complaint?
Call any store, email [email protected], or contact your state regulator directly — links are on the licenses page →
Two decades in,
still local.
Same founder, same phone number, same rule about printing the fee in large type. Apply online or walk into any of 26 stores.
- Licensed direct lender
- 26 stores
- Since 2004
- Fees in writing
Call (855) 555-0199 to reach any store, or email [email protected].
Store hours