Tower Loan - Home Mortgage

Tower Loan
(573) 517-7482
310 Perry Plz, Perryville, MO

Tower Loan traces its origin to 1936, when the consumer finance industry was in its infancy. The company grew and prospered. After World War II, Tower sold its offices to various employees within the company.

The Ed Clark era

The Jackson, Mississippi, South State Street Office of the original Tower group was puchased by Ed and Kate Clark. Under the ownership of the Clarks, Tower Loan brokers grew from a single office to 16 offices throughout Mississippi.

Modern Tower Loan Era

In 1972, after the death of Kate Clark, Jack Lee purchased 12 of Ed Clark's offices. The 4 offices not purchased were sold to managers within Clark's company and are still in operation today. The offices purchased by Jack Lee were located in North Jackson, Clinton, East Jackson, Yazoo City, Canton, Kosciusko, Pascagoula, Louisville, Eupora, Carthage, Moss Point, and Philadelphia. In later years, the Moss Point office was merged into Pascagoula, Clinton was moved to Southwest Jackson; and East Jackson was moved to Pearl. Some of these offices operated as Tower Loan and some operated as Russell Baker Finance.

Insurance

In 1983, Tower formed two insurance companies for the purpose of providing credit related insurance. American Federated Life Insurance Company was formed as a credit life insurance and credit accident and health insurance company. American Federated Insurance Company was formed as a credit property insurance company, but is also a leading workman's compensation insurance company in Mississippi. These insurance companies are now owned by Tower's parent corporation and are managed by a separate company that is not affiliated with Tower.

Purchases and Openings

After various openings and purchases, Tower grew to have 29 offices in the state of Mississippi, making Tower the largest consumer finance company based in the state of Mississippi.

On May 1, 1990, Tower Loan made its largest acquisition. Louisiana based Reliable Finance company was sold following the death of its owner and operational leader, Grady Brockner. The acquisition of Reliable spread Tower's lending philosophy into 13 offices in the state of Louisiana.

At the time of this acquisition, the only office still operating as Russell Baker Finance was Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg's name was changed to Reliable Finance and the Russell Baker name was lost.

Before the purchase of Reliable Finance, First Tower Corp., a holding company, was established to form an umbrella for Tower Loan of Mississippi, Inc.; American Federated Life Insurance Company; and American Federated Insurance Company. ReliableFinance Company was eventually renamed First Tower Loan, Inc. and was added to the umbrella of First Tower Corp.

After various acquisitions and office openings in 1991 and 1992, Tower stood at 51 offices. On December 1, 1992, Tower Loan acquired the 9 consumer loan offices of Eagle Federal Savings Bank. This brought Tower to 60 offices.

In July 1997, Tower purchased the 4 offices of Walthall Finance. Then in October 1997, Tower purchased the 8 offices of Money Mart, Inc. In September of 1999, Tower netted 21 new offices after acquiring certain assets from MFN Financial Corporation.

In 2004, Tower made other significant assets, acquiring all of the remaining Mississippi receivables of Tico Finance Company and Personal Finance Company.

Home Office

In addition to the more than 125 offices, Tower has a corporate headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi. Working from this base office is a team of supervisors, the company's corporate leaders, and corporate office staff consisting of the Marketing Human Resources, Legal, Data Processing and Shipping Departments.

Conclusion

Tower has weathered the storm of high interest rates, recessions, government regulations and truth-in-lending lawsuits. In spite of these obstacles, First Tower Corp. has continued to prosper, advance and become one of the nation's leaders among independent finance companies.