West Side Lending Predatory Rates of Interest Illinois Class Action

This Illinois predatory lending case sues West Side Lending, LLC, Jennifer Peters, Wolf River Development Company, New Platform Fund, LLC, and a group of “Does” or individuals whose names are not known. The complaint alleges that the predatory lending was done under cover of a “rent-a-tribe” scheme, but that the actual operations were performed by, and the majority of the benefits accrued to, persons who were not members of the tribe.

The class for the Declaratory and Injunctive Relief Against Illegal Conduct count is (1) all individuals with Illinois addresses (2) to whom a loan was made in the name of West Side Lending, LLC at more than 9% interest, (3) where the loan has not been paid in full.

Three other similar classes have been defined, for the Illinois Interest Act count, the Predatory Loan Prevention Act and Illinois Consumer Fraud Act count, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act counts.

Illinois law does not permit anyone other than a bank or credit union to make loans at more than 9% interest. The complaint alleges, “Any loans to Illinois residents at more than 9% that are made by unlicensed persons are void and unenforceable.” The state’s criminal usury law deems it a felony for unlicensed persons to make loans at more than 20% interest. As of March 23, 2021, only banks can make loans to Illinois residents at an annual percentage rate of more than 36%.

West Side Lending, the complaint alleges, makes loans at annual percentage rates of between 630% and 780%. The complaint alleges, “It purports to be an entity formed under the laws of, and claims to be owned and controlled by, the Menominee Tribe or Wisconsin, a federally-recognized Indian Tribe.”

However, the complaint alleges that this is merely a rent-a-tribe scheme, that tries to circumvent state laws under the guise of tribal sovereignty, claiming that the business is owned and operated by tribal entities.

The complaint points to a number of signs that it says indicate that the Menominee Tribe is not the real owner and operator of West Side, including that the domain registration for its website is an entity in Iceland and that its fax number has a northern Michigan area code, where the Menominee Tribe does not have any territory.

According to the complaint, West Side is only one of a number of entities who make high-interest loans that are supposedly owned by the Menominee Tribe.

“However,” the complaint alleges, “the tribal lending entity is simply a façade for an illegal lending scheme; all substantive aspects of the payday lending operation—funding, marketing, loan origination, underwriting, loan servicing, electronic funds transfers, and collections—are performed by individuals and entities that are unaffiliated with the tribe.”

“On information and belief,” the complaint alleges, “the economic benefit of the activities of West Side Lending, LLC is received by non-Native American persons.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Loans
Tags: Excessive Interest Rate, Predatory Lending, Tribal Sovereignty Issue