this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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In bankruptcy filings and consumer complaints, thousands of people across the country make pleas for relief from high-interest loans with punishing annual rates that often exceed 600%.

Although they borrowed small sums online from a slew of businesses with catchy names — such as Loan at Last or Sky Trail Cash — their loans stemmed from the same massive operation owned by a small Native American tribe in a remote part of Wisconsin.

Over the past decade, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians has grown to become a prominent player in the tribal lending industry, generating far-reaching impact and leaving a legacy of economic despair. A ProPublica analysis found companies owned by the LDF tribe showed up as a creditor in roughly 1 out of every 100 bankruptcy cases sampled nationwide.

That’s the highest frequency associated with any of the tribes doing business in this sector of the payday loan industry. And it translates to an estimated 4,800 bankruptcy cases, on average, per year.

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Alternative headline: Indigenous corporation takes a page from the Wall Street playbook to benefit tribe.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 months ago

Alternative headline: Capitalist scum fuck over innocent people.

This is like cheering Thatcher for being a girlboss.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Look I get it, they deserve a win after what their entire civilization went through and is still going through a thanks to the government in particular and white people in general. That does not mean, however, that it justifies fucking over already poor people using exorbitantly high interest loans. John Oliver did an episode about these kinds of things once and they are so goddamn predatory it's disgusting.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Never said I agreed with it...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

First nations group gets their pound of flesh; more at 11

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Reminds me of this old commercial I used to see. I think they got shut down for predatory lending IIRC. https://youtu.be/xgLMgVq4p_E?feature=shared

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

I remember those! Also the fine print:

The APR for a typical loan of $10,000 is 89.66% with 84 monthly payments of $743.99.

For the curious, that means you pay

$743.99 x 84 = $62,495.16

How the fuck that commercial aired more than once without any sort of federal intervention boggles the mind.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

I was wondering if this was a legit tribe or one of those shitty "white people desperate to open an Indian casino" tribes with two registered members that are like 1/24000 native American or some shit. I kind of looked them on Wikipedia, they seem legit.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago

I guess they were running out of ideas for law suits

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 months ago (2 children)

There is a special level in hell for those who prey on their own kind.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Their land was stolen. This is in no way worse than what Wall St continues to do. Capitalism, baby!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Does the article say they’re targeting indigenous people? They said they deal nationwide. I have no problem with them financially cursing colonizers.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Abusive lending should never be allowed. Making exceptions is hypocritical.