In April 2017, the CFPB sued “Golden Valley Lending, Silver Cloud Financial, Mountain Summit Financial and Majestic Lake Financial,” which are owned by the “Habematolel Pomo Tribe” in Northern California, for allegations that they “illegally took money from consumers’ bank accounts for debts that weren’t valid because loans violated state laws. [The CFPB] says the high-cost online loans, with annual interest rates from 440 percent to 950 percent, violated licensing requirements or interest-rate caps, or both, making them void in at least 17 states.” The tribe vowed to fight the suit, and they argued that the CFPB “has ignored the federal government’s legal relationship with tribal governments” noting that tribes “must be treated like a state.”

• “Federal regulators sued four online lenders for collecting consumer debts they weren’t legally owed, an area that is a prime source of consumer complaints.” [“Feds: Tribe-Owned Online Lenders Collected on Invalid Debts”, Associated Press, 04/27/17]

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed the suit Thursday against the lenders, saying they illegally took money from consumers’ bank accounts for debts that weren’t valid because loans violated state laws. It says the high-cost online loans, with annual interest rates from 440 percent to 950 percent, violated licensing requirements or interest-rate caps, or both, making them void in at least 17 states. The four lenders, Golden Valley Lending, Silver Cloud Financial, Mountain Summit Financial and Majestic Lake Financial, are owned by the Habematolel Pomo Tribe, an American Indian tribe in Upper Lake in northern California.” [“Feds: Tribe-Owned Online Lenders Collected on Invalid Debts”, Associated Press, 04/27/17]

• “The tribe disputed the allegations and said it would fight the suit. It argued that the agency has ignored the federal government’s legal relationship with tribal governments: by law, tribes must be treated like a state.” [“Feds: Tribe-Owned Online Lenders Collected on Invalid Debts”, Associated Press, 04/27/17]