» posted on Friday, April 6th, 2012 at 7:39 am by RadioGuyJoe

Are Pawn shops signs of bad times? No one for the 1%!

There’s a new lender in town for wealthy individuals in need of quick cash. Borro.com, founded in the U.K. in 2009, is now operating in the U.S., making loans secured by luxury personal assets such as fine wines, art, diamond jewels and antique cars.

Here’s how it works: A wealthy individual in need of cash applies for a loan at borro.com or through a financial advisor, offering his or her precious asset as collateral. Borro lends 50% to 70% of the collateral’s value — loans usually don’t last more than a few months. and are often small business owners who “have a deal they can do and need liquidity to do that,” . Borrow’s clients have a net worth between $1 million and $10 million.