Consumer complaint received 2017-09-26
Company: Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
State: WA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Payday loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect

Complaint:
I took out several loans over a period of months due to needing to care for a family member after a severe accident ; I work full time as XXXX however did not have enough sick leave accrued to adequately pay all of my bills. The 4 loans all of which market/represent themselves from tribal lands-which has laws federal and state which are confusing and purposely deceptive or at minimum fine print as if its a commercial for a new medication however the side effects clearly out way the presenting problem. XXXX XXXX XXXX is where my problem exists. I entered credit counseling due to the situational stressors and burdens out of my control. All lenders accepted the proposals with suspending interest and paying off the principal with a monthly installment with the exception of XXXX. My loan for XXXX from XXXX XXXX, with two weeks of taking out the loan and me entering debt counseling services added a finance charge of {$4600.00} with a APR of 657.75 % which is percent for the entire year, taking over 4 years to pay off in counseling. I contacted a representive to rescind the ACH withdrawal as my consolidation agency would be disbursing payments. Upon contacting them, I was informed I could pay off the loan in its entirety over XXXX anytime. During this conservation which customer service was incredibly rude and condescending stated they had the right to do this now that I have entered a fixed program. Subsequently paying nearly XXXX dollars in finance charges from a XXXX loan. Per WA state, who has one of the strictest regulations regarding these lenders informed me to advocate to the company now that the principal and then some is paid off to find a resolution meaning I have met my obligation even though XXXX clearly doesnt not see it that way regardless of their horribly written contracts which were sent out multiple times and in fact the money was deposited into my account prior to all documents had been signed, but thats another issue. Nearly a year later, I contacted XXXX again once the principal was paid and engaged in a heated exchange with customer service who refused to let me speak to a supervisor and once I mentioned I wanted to handle this issue without filing a compliant I was told a supervisor would contact me the follow day, this was two weeks ago. I have contacted customer service twice since then, and have yet to have a supervisor contact me. In short, they are hiding behind representing themselves as not being required to follow state and federal laws regarding small loans. Im not a lawyer ; I have been given conflicting messages on both sides regarding how these lenders can be held accountable. That said, its a business, their should be a baseline foundation of transparency, assistance, respect and most importantly practices which are fair and equitable on both sides. Lastly, Im not paying XXXX in finances charges from a XXXX loan when it was misrepresented and immediately tacked on to the principal once I entered credit counseling. I want a resolution immediately ; Im not asking for compensation, Im requesting with respect to have resolution as my principal and more have been paid. I do not want anyone to use this lender until they change their practices, I will update if possible this complaint once I have a satisfactory resolution. Again, in my situation every other lender did not follow these horrible and possible illegal practices even though the other lenders claim to be federally protected. It appears that XXXX XXXX may be operating as an online tribal lender. XXXX XXXX is an instrumentality of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, and claims to be a Native American owned business operating within the interior boundaries of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX located in South Dakota.XXXX XXXX is not licensed by the XXXX and is not registered to conduct business in Washington State by the Department of Licensing, the Department of Revenue, or the Secretary of State. http : //www.dfi.wa.govXXXX I did try to contact the company before filing a complaint with the specific intention of trying to resolve it one on one before filing a complaint.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation