Blue Trust Loans Facing ‘Rent-a-Tribe’ Class Action in Illinois Over Allegedly Unlawful Loan Interest Rates

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A proposed class action claims the operators of online lender BlueTrustLoans.com are behind an illegal “rent-a-tribe” scheme whereby they issue loans with unlawful interest rates to Illinois residents.

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The 25-page lawsuit says that although those who run Hummingbird Funds, LLC—which does business as Blue Trust Loans—purport to be owned by the federally recognized Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, the non-tribal lenders in fact “fraudulently [hide] behind” the tribe’s sovereign immunity in an attempt to avoid prosecution under state usury laws.

According to the suit, BlueTrustLoans.com is operated by defendants David Johnson and Kirk Michael Chewning through offshore companies Cane Bay Partners VI, LLLP and Dimension Credit (Cayman), L.P. and their U.S.-based affiliates Strategic Link Consulting, LP and Esoteric Ventures, LLC.

In addition, the case names as defendants Cane Bay’s chief of staff, Jay Clark, and two of the company’s Belize-based affiliates, M. Mark High, Ltd. and InfoTel International Ltd. Also included in the lawsuit are InfoTel’s chief executive officer, Kim Anderson, and the nominal owner of Hummingbird Funds, Lac Courte Oreilles Financial Services.

The complaint alleges that the defendants have made “predatory” loans to consumers through BlueTrustLoans.com at interest rates that exceed 200 percent. These unlawful loans are issued in the name of the Native American tribe by which the defendants falsely claim to be owned in an effort to dodge state interest rate caps, the filing explains.

As the lawsuit tells it, members of the Wisconsin-based tribe neither participate in nor benefit from the “illegal lending scheme.”

Under the Illinois Interest Act, loans made by entities without a lending license or bank or credit union charter at more than nine percent interest are considered void, the suit says. The case adds that, according to state law, it is a felony for an unlicensed entity to issue a loan at over 20 percent interest.

The plaintiff, an Illinois resident, took out a loan from Blue Trust Loans in February 2022 with an annual percentage rate of 415.67 percent—well over the lawful interest rate, the complaint relays.

The filing claims that, as of 2022, BlueTrustLoans.com transitioned to eLoanWarehouse.com—operated by Opichi Funds LLC—and has continued to issue loans at illegal interest rates.

The lawsuit looks to represent:

“(a) [All] individuals with Illinois addresses (b) to whom a loan was made in the name of ‘Hummingbird Funds’ at more than 9% interest (c) which loan has not been paid in full;”

“(a) [All] individuals with Illinois addresses (b) to whom a loan was made in the name of ‘Hummingbird Funds’ at more than 9% interest (c) which is outstanding or was paid in full on or after a date two years prior to the filing of this action;”

“(a) [All] individuals with Illinois addresses (b) to whom a loan was made in the name of ‘Hummingbird Funds’ at more than 36% interest (c) on or after March 23, 2021;” and

“(a) [All] individuals with Illinois addresses (b) to whom a loan was made in the name of ‘Hummingbird Funds’ at more than 18% interest (c) which loan was made on or after a date four years prior to the filing of this action.”

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