Amid a barrage of complaints, a Cincinnati-area company has stopped pursuing families of Sept. 11 hijack victims to entice them to take cash payments with potentially high payback rates.

        Moreover, Ohio and Kentucky bank regulators say they've never heard of Providence Inc., which operates from offices in a riverfront tower in Covington.

        Providence last month mailed cash, prepaid telephone cards and the names of lawyers from four law firms to the families of 76 people who died in planes hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11.

        The law firms complained, and Providence issued formal apologies last week.

        “I've never heard of them,” said Stan Chesley, a lawyer with one of the firms — Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley in Cincinnati.

        Another firm — Speiser, Krause, Nolan & Granito of New York — complained to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

        Providence offers money to people hurt in anything from slip-and-fall accidents to natural disasters. If the victims are dead, the company deals with survivors. It also steers people to lawyers.

        “We do not make loans,” the company's Web site (www.ProvidenceUSA.net) says. It says the money is “an investment” to help disaster victims and their families cover medical or legal expenses while they pursue claims. Repayment is required only if the victim receives an insurance payment or disaster settlement.

        Yet on its Web site, Providence offers the testimonial of a Dayton, Ohio, man who “received a $10,000 cash loan” from the company. And in cases where the money has to be repaid, people are charged interest rates of 24 percent or higher, a company employee said.

        Frank Granito, partner in the New York firm that complained to Mr. Ashcroft, said approaching victims so directly and so soon after disasters seldom works.

        “We've found that if you want to eliminate yourself from consideration, send materials — videos and the like — to the families after disasters,” Mr. Granito said.

        A federal statute bars law firms from soliciting families of airplane crash victims for 45 days after an accident. It became law in 1996. Providence is not covered by that law.

        In marketing materials and on its Web site, the company says it's located in Cincinnati. But its Cincinnati address, an 11th floor “suite” at 312 Plum St., is a mail drop.

        Providence's office is on the fourth floor of the 50 E. RiverCenter tower. It occupies what's known as an executive suite, a pod of small companies that share a receptionist, phone lines and office equipment.

        A Providence employee this week would not give his name when he answered the door at the Covington office. Neither would he identify the company's owners or answer questions he considered too probing.

        He wouldn't put the Enquirer in contact with Providence employee John T. Janis, who wrote the apologies. The spokesman allowed a Providence brochure to be reviewed, but not taken out of the office.

        The spokesman did say that Providence:

        • Has given amounts ranging from $1,000 to $300,000 to people left in financial straits by accidents or disasters.

        • Combs newspapers for bus crashes, coal mine explosions, boat sinkings and other tragedies, then mails its marketing package to survivors or their families.

        “People can't pay their mortgage and they need financing,” the Providence employee said. “They'll use their family and bank options, but often the banks won't talk to them and they don't have anywhere else to turn, so they come to us as a last resort.”

        The employee wouldn't say what interest rate is charged, though he confirmed it is more than 24 percent.

        The Ohio Division of Financial Institutions could not find a license for Providence. Barbara Nash, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions in Frankfort, said Providence is not licensed by the state.

        “If they are making loans under $15,000 that are not secured by real estate, they have to be licensed with us,” Ms. Nash said. “We certainly would look into it.”

        Kentucky also regulates the interest rate charged by makers of unsecured loans. The cap, Ms. Nash said, is 36 percent.

        The reason that no licenses could be found, the Providence employee said, is that none is required to make its brand of “non-recourse” loans. Lenders making non-recourse loans can't take possession of assets in the event of default.

        “We have letters from the department of financial institutions from several states, including Kentucky, where they indicate on their letterhead that our activities fall outside of the legal definition of loans as a traditional bank would be involved in,” the employee said.

        But Kentucky banking experts said the state's registration requirement applies to consumer lenders without regard to recourse provisions.

        “I am not familiar with any distinction between recourse versus non-recourse loans in the registration of companies,” said Debra Stamper, general counsel of the Kentucky Bankers Association. “It doesn't make sense to me.”

        Licensing requirements aside, Providence does provide a public service that more conservative lenders shun. Fred Stoops, whose Tulsa law firm was one of the four named in Providence's September mailing, said Providence gave bridge financing to a family involved in a Firestone tire blowout case.

        A woman was paralyzed in the accident, Mr. Stoops said, and her family was overwhelmed by bills. It was then that he received an unsolicited flier from Providence outlining its program.

        “It very much helped the family,” Mr. Stoops said. “It bridged the gap between the time of need and the time of settlement.”

        The Providence employee said his company has worked with more than 500 families. But he said it has ceased pursuing the families of the Sept. 11 victims, who might soon be entitled to a public compensation fund as long as they don't file suit.

        “We're finished with that,” he said. “There's too many people for us to help.”

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