Hebrew Free Loan Association of Baltimore
Legal name: Hebrew Free Loan Association of Baltimore City Incorporated
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 520633396
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2015
- Location
- Baltimore, MD, United States
- Phone
- 410.843.7536
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Financial Institutions
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $110,934
- Expenses
- $91,320
- Assets
- $1,903,657
- Liabilities
- $5,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
26 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SARA WETSTEIN (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- SARA WETSTEIN (PRESIDENT)
- INA NAIMAN (1ST VP)
- BENYAMIN WISE (2ND VP)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) helps people help themselves by providing interest-free loans—“No interest, ever!”—as a “hand up, not a handout” for fellow Jews in Greater Baltimore to meet life’s challenges. The Biblical mitzvah of interest-free lending is one of the highest forms of charity, as it renders assistance, while preserving dignity and promoting self-help. We believe, as Maimonides did, that one of the greatest levels of charity is to support our fellow Jews by endowing them with loans to help them remain independent. HFLA’s activities are rooted in the age-old Jewish tradition of Chesed – Kindness. Today, we provide loans for a host of needs ranging from medical and dental bills, bar and bat mitzvah expenses, wedding expenses, home repair, education expenses, small business expenses, sudden emergencies, and much much more. But the principle is the same as it...
What it reported doing in 2024
Interest free loan program under jewish teachings and tradition. During the current fiscal year the hfla has serviced 22 loans totaling $255,164.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 61% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 61
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 76
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77.1%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 55.7%; rating input score 56
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 17.7%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 20.85; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 77.1% of revenue deployed · 55.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 26 of 26 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $51K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 26 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.