in Newswire Published on June 20, 2022

Payday Lender Green Arrow Solutions Facing Class Action Over High-Interest Loans in Indiana

Toler v. Green Arrow Solutions et al.

Filed: June 15, 2022 ◆§ 1:22-cv-01214

A lawsuit alleges Green Arrow Solutions, who claims to be affiliated with a Native American tribe, has loaned money to Indiana residents at excessive interest rates.

Defendant(s)

Green Arrow Solutions Integra Financial Services, LLC Nevada Impact Management, LLC

Law(s)

RICO Indiana Uniform Consumer Credit Code

State(s)

Indiana

Categories

Business/Finance Fraud

A proposed class action alleges payday lender Green Arrow Solutions, who claims to be affiliated with a Lake County, California Native American tribe, has loaned money to Indiana residents at usuriously excessive interest rates, in violation of state law.

The 16-page case says that neither Green Arrow, who purports to be an entity created and owned by the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big Valley Rancheria, nor its individual operators or alleged co-conspirators are actually affiliated with the tribe, and thus cannot use the tribe’s sovereign immunity as a shield against Indiana usury laws.

The lawsuit alleges Green Arrow offers loans to Indiana residents at interest rates in excess of 700 percent annually. The complaint accuses Green Arrow, Integra Financial Services, Nevada Impact Management and two individuals of running afoul of the Indiana Consumer Credit Code and federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

According to the case, Green Arrow’s actual lending operations are carried out in locations other than tribal lands, in Utah, and no member of the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians participates significantly in the company’s lending business. Further, the profits Green Arrow derives from its lending business are received by non-tribal members, the suit says.

From the complaint:

“These so-called ‘tribal lenders’ usually do not survive scrutiny when examined closely, since virtually all business functions occur far from tribal land, by nontribal members, and overwhelmingly benefit non-tribal members to such a degree that tribal involvement is effectively nil.

Where non-tribal individuals and entities control and manage the substantive lending functions, provide the lending capital necessary to support the operation, and bear the economic risk associated with the operation, they are not in fact ‘operated’ by Native American tribes and, therefore, are not shielded by sovereign immunity.”

The plaintiff, a Johnson County, Indiana resident, claims to have borrowed $300 from Green Arrow at an annual interest rate of more than 775 percent. Payment of the loan at that interest rate would have resulted in Green Arrow receiving $785, including more than $485 in interest alone, the lawsuit says.

In Indiana, the maximum interest rate that may be charged on most types of consumer loans is 36 percent annually, the case states.

The lawsuit looks to represent all individuals with Indiana addresses to whom a loan was made in the name of Green Arrow Solutions or Green Arrow Loans at more than 36 percent interest within the past four years.

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