Companies Behind AscendLoans.com Facing Class Action Over Alleged ‘Rent-A-Tribe’ Loan Scheme

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A proposed class action claims the operators of online lender AscendLoans.com are engaged in a “rent-a-tribe” scheme whereby they’ve issued to Illinois residents “predatory” loans with illegal interest rates.

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The 21-page lawsuit says that although those who run Ascend Loans claim the site is wholly owned and operated by the federally recognized Habematolel Pomo Tribe of Upper Lake, California, the non-tribal lender in fact leans on the tribe’s sovereign immunity in an effort to evade state usury laws.

Through AscendLoans.com, the defendants—Ascend Loans, LLC; Uprova Holdings, LLC; Upper Lake Processing Services, Inc.; Pomo One Marketing, Inc.; Habemco, LLC; Genel Ilyasova; Michael Scott Hammer; Sarah Marie Himmler; David Stover and Denise DeHaemers, all of whom are allegedly involved in the site’s operation or the lending and collection activities themselves—provide loans to consumers at annual percentage rates of more than 600 percent, the suit relays.

As the case tells it, these illegal loans are made in the name of the small Native American tribe the defendants claim to be owned by in order to be “shielded” from state and federal laws. The complaint alleges, however, that the online lender’s sovereign protection claims are merely a charade to conceal an illegal business operation.

According to the filing, Illinois law stipulates that loans made by unlicensed entities at more than nine percent interest are unlawful and considered void and unenforceable. In addition, the state’s criminal usury law declares that a loan made at more than 20 percent interest is a felony, the lawsuit says.

The defendants never obtained a legal license from a proper Illinois agency yet continue to “regularly” issue loans to Illinois residents at rates above nine percent, the suit contends.

To combat such conduct, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation routinely takes action against unlicensed out-of-state lenders like AscendLoans.com that make online loans to Illinois citizens, the case explains.

The plaintiff, an Illinois resident, took out a $400 loan from AscendLoans.com in October 2022 with an annual percentage rate of nearly 700 percent—well above the state’s legal rate, the complaint shares.

The lawsuit looks to represent:

“(a) [All] individuals with Illinois addresses (b) to whom a loan was made in the name of Ascend Loans, LLC 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 Ascend Loans, LLC at more than 9% interest (c) which loan is still outstanding or has been paid on or after a date two years prior to the filing of suit;”

“(a) [All] individuals with Illinois addresses (b) to whom a loan was made in the name of Ascend Loans, LLC at more than 36% interest (all of its loans qualify) (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 Ascend Loans, LLC at more than 18% interest (all of its loans qualify) (c) which loan was made on or after a date 4 years prior to the filing of suit.”

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