Chippewa cash: Indians offer payday loans.

• Author: Mangu-Ward, Katherine
• Position: Citings - Short term loans offered by American Indians - Brief article

SINCE 2003, federal, state, and local governments have been hustling to impose onerous restrictions on payday lenders, who offer high-interest, short-term loans, often taken out against the guarantee of a future paycheck. In response, payday lending increasingly is following the lead of other disfavored industries, such as tobacco and gambling, by seeking refuge on Indian reservations.

Immune from state and federal rate caps, the Chippewa Cree tribe of Montana's Rocky Boy Indian Reservation is offering short-term loans through a company called Plain Green Loans, which promises fast cash online. A large number of consumer complaints about collection snafus and other problems...