Class Action Blog
November 12, 2019
Tribal Sovereign Immunity for Tribal Entity Economic Arms Defeats Payday Loan Class Action
The Lac Vieux Desert Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (“the Tribe”) formed two business entities under tribal law. Those entities were Big Picture Loans, LLC and Ascension Technologies, LLC. They were set up in order to get into the payday loan business and charged interest at rates many times the rates allowed under Virginia law. Five prospective class members filed suit against Big Picture and Ascension alleging violations of state law.