Rights against Tribal Lenders?
Date: Mon, 01/14/2013 - 10:17
My letter to them:
doing research regarding Internet payday loan laws in the State of
Washington, I have found that your Internet payday loans are actually
illegal. I have been in contact with Washington State Department of
Financial Institutions
and they have verified that your company is not licensed in Washington,
therefore the loan contract I have with you is not valid.
Although I am not legally required to do so, I am willing to
repay the principal balance of this loan, which you will see I already
have. To date, I received a deposit of $300 on 10/5/2012, and have had
bi-weekly withdrawals totaling $514.29 debited from my account. This results in an overpayment of $214.29.
hereby revoke any and all ACH authorizations with your company from
debiting any of my personal accounts, per Federal law, Regulation E
Section 205.10 Pre-authorized transfers. I have closed my account with
Chase to protect
my interest in this matter, per instructions from The State of
Washington Department of Finance. I also revoke any and all wage
assignments I may or may not have signed with your company, I no longer
authorize you, your company, or your affiliates to attach
any part of my wages or contact my employer for your collection
purposes. I have notified my employer about this matter so any attempts
to do so on your part will be rejected.
demand that any contact be made through US Postal mail or email only. I
will need everything in writing to keep accurate records of all
communication as per instruction from my Attorney General's Office. I
prohibit you or
your affiliates to contact me via telephone at my place of employment
or my home telephone number. I also prohibit you from calling my
references listed on my loan.
filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade
Commission, and Washington’s Attorney General's Office.
no later than 5 days from the above date regarding this matter. This
response may only come via US Postal mail or email. No telephone contact
is permitted.
Better Business Bureau
Washington State Attorney General
Their response email:
We
are in receipt of your email regarding your account and have reviewed
your concerns carefully in an attempt to resolve this matter.
As clearly indicated in its website disclaimers and loan documents
executed by you, Clearwater Lending, LLC (the “Company”) is a wholly
owned and operated entity of the Fort Belknap Indian Community (the
“Tribe”) on the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana
(the “Reservation”). The Company is wholly owned by the Tribe, was
established for the Tribe’s economic benefit, and is organized under and
operates pursuant to Tribal law. As an economic arm of the tribe, the
Company shares the Tribe’s sovereign immunity
and, therefore, is not subject to state enforcement actions described
in your letter.
The
Fort Belknap Indian Community is a federally-recognized Indian tribe
and a sovereign nation, as expressly recognized under federal
law. See 75 Fed. Reg.
60,810, 60,811. As such, Clearwater Lending, LLC, conducts its business
under all applicable Federal laws and the laws of the Fort Belknap
Tribe. Furthermore, we can attest that our
Tribal lending business does not engage in excessive or abusive
collection practices. We diligently work with our customers to resolve
any inquiries and issues that have been brought to our attention in a
timely manner.
We
also respect your wishes to be placed on a Do Not Call list and your
right to revoke ACH authorization. Consequently, we will cease all
communications via telephone only to your place of employment and we
will revoke your ACH authorization. At the present
time, your account shows you have unpaid principal balance of $300 and
current loan fee of $115 due tomorrow 11/11. To date you have made six
fee payments totaling $514.29. As a courtesy to you, we will waive the
latest fee amount, $25 NSF charge and the $25
late fee and you are only obligated to pay back your loan balance of
$300 per the terms of your loan agreement. Please forward the remaining
principal balance of $300 by cashier’s or certified check to our address
below within seven (7) business days:
Clearwater Lending, LLC
PO Box 320
Hays, MT 59527
Since
you willingly borrowed the $300 from us, you are obligated for the fees
associated with the time the loan was outstanding!
Unfortunately, if we do not receive your remaining principal payment by
the end of the seven (7) business days, we will be forced to resume
normal collections and/or turn this matter over to our attorneys. You
may call our collection department at
866.302.1037 to setup a repayment plan if you cannot pay your loan balance of $300 off at one time.
We hope that we have answered your concern, but we would be happy to talk with you should you have further questions.
Customer Support
David M
CashFairy.Com
Update...
So Lakota keeps calling work and cell though the letter clearly says they may not...though based on the emails and calls/messages they are "pretending" or ignoring the letter I sent. I re-sent it to them...we shall see. As for Cash Fairy they have sent several emails saying my account is now in collections and that I need to get in touch with them immediately...again I resent my letter in response to their email...nothing yet from them. I'm guessing the calls and harassment will pick up...just need to know how and what to say, I know they will continue to throw out their tribal laws and how I owe the money. Has anyone dealt with either company, Lakota Cash or Cash Fairy?
They are indeed illegal..
They are indeed illegal.. They are tribal lenders, stick to your guns on this respond if you must with your original email revoking and why... They are just trying to confuse you and convince you that you must pay... and don't call them it will only frustrate you more. Keep us posted you are doing the right thing.
Quick answer
I tried posting some info here for you but it keeps saying its being marked as spam and waiting for an admin to approve it. Once that happens the post never shows up. I think its because I was putting some links for you. I am in WA and working with reservation lenders. It is illegal. I have contact the DFI in WA and was told they are not allowed to loan to WA residents. In short they are lying. If the post ever gets put on here there will be links to prove it from the DFI and other websites.
Rights Against Tribal Lenders
They should refund you the overpayment of $214.29........Push for that, though, i highly doubt you'd get it