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Pachacutec · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:13 am Subject: Indian reservations and PDL companies

A lot of posts here mention contacting the BBB, FDIC, FCC, and other agencies. I was wondering - seeing as many of the PDLs such as MTE are located on Indian reservations, has anyone ever contacted the reservations or agencies such as Bureau of Indian affairs, regarding PDLs on Indian land? It would be interesting what they have to say about the PDLs, especially in light of various articles I've seen online about Indians being victims of "predatory lenders," including PDLs!

Hyla Cineria · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:00 am Subject:

That is very interesting, I hope someone knows the answer.

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:09 am Subject:

Pachacutec your mind is like a busy highway. Laughing

Just kidding. That's something that never ocurred to me, wouldn't it be interesting if complaints abour pdl's started pouring in. Seems to me they would have to deal with it in some way.

Pachacutec · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:52 am Subject:

My mind is like a busy highway? (w/ lots of bumps and detours, hee hee!) Seriously - I thought that the laws of the reservations and the fact that people there weren't held liable for certain laws OUTSIDE the reservation was for the benefit of the Indians, not for anyone who wanted to set up shop on their lands. Wonder if the PDLs' or others actually own the land where their offices are, or if they're leasing? If leasing, if they're not actual property owners, are they in fact exempt from laws outside the reservation? Wonder if anyone has ever challenged a business (not just PDLS) on Indian land?

guest · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 11:23 am Subject: oneclickcash

from OK dept.of consumer credit:

"They are unlicensed internet lenders and at this time we do not have jurisdiction over them because they are on tribal land and claim "sovereign nation" as to why they do not have to abide by our payday loan laws. "

Guest · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 11:59 am Subject:

The indians are paid a percentage of each loan to "underwrite" it. You know who this is, Shazz.

-Chief Loanalot

Pachacutec · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 12:09 pm Subject:

So, are companies like MTE which have addresses on tribal land just using it for a mailbox location, or do they have physical offices there? How can a company that's not actually run by the Indian tribe claim sovereign nation status? I know, I know, someones' probably paying someone for usage, either way.

Guest · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 12:44 pm Subject:

they're not on tribal land any more than Delaware licensed companies may or may not be in Delaware, same with Utah...whatever you pick. "customer service" does not need to be on the land, if that makes sense. they are actually "run" by the tribe...in a legal sense. the tribe is just a barrier...no different than banks that used to rent their charters until the FDIC stopped that. Google county bank and look for payday loan related info...it's the same structure. The important thing to remember is that while we don't govern the tribe, their laws don't govern us, either. It's a completely lawless contract in every sense. at 30% interest per 14 days, they can live with that. even if their collectors would say otherwise

Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 2:53 am Subject:

I work for an Indian tribe and technically, my workplace is on sovereign land. As far as suing and/or challenging business for non-pdl related things, most lawyers will not even touch a case involving a sovereign tribe. The tribe I work for has had numerous lawsuits lobbed at them over the past few years- most of them for wrongful employee termination to sexual harassment in the work place- and now, they are being sued in the wrongful death of someone who came to our property, met someone, and then was taken somewhere and murdered ( my workplace was actually featurd on "48 Hrs Mystery" for that one. You can actually see me on the surveillance tape that they made public because I was working that night ).

All these lawsuits? No one has won a single one of them against the tribe yet.

Pachacutec · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 4:31 am Subject:

Fascinating information! I guess I found it puzzling because when I did a search on google, I found various articles in tribal newsletters, etc., deploring the accessibility of predatory lending, including PDLs, to people who live on the reservations. And yet they lease/sell PDL's the "right" to operate out of the tribal land in one form or another....? I guess money DOES talk.

Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 2:59 pm Subject:

It's very true- they will vehemently protect their own, when it comes down to it. Even in the workplace, they promote tribal members first, even if they do not qualify for the positions and non-members do. So I can see how they would deplore predatory lending to their own, but not hesitate to make a quick buck lending to non-tribals.

To be fair, though, aside from that sort of thing, the tribes are usually among the best "companies" to work for, and have well over-spent themselves on health benefits and care for their families, an outstanding 401k plan, and legal representation and consultation including a personal lawyer all paid for for their employees if they ever need any kind of legal counseling or representation for anything from parking tickets to divorce to bankruptcy.

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