There are almost 200 tribal lending companies at this point (in April of 2014) and the list keeps growing every month. The question is out of all these many Native American lenders which of the companies (that are still in business and still funding loans) has the best loan options for the average borrower?
I'm going to provide you with six different reservation loans (Native American lenders) that are providing what I feel are the best options right now (as of April of 2014) in the tribal lending industry. Below is the list...
1. Plain Green Lending - since this lender has the outright lowest interest rates when it comes to tribal lenders I will put them first on the list. It also helps that as of right now they are tied for first place in terms of being the top dollar lender (maximum loan amount) by issuing up to a $3,000 loan. The interest rate, although when compared historically to banks or other lenders, is much better than most other tribe-based lending operations. A $3,000 loan with Plain Green Loans, for a six month timeframe, will carry an APR of just over 59% which is great when compared to the 500% and 700% APR's being charged to many other (most other) tribal companies.
2. Great Plains Lending - although they have substantially higher interest rates this is another tribal lender that will issue a $3,000 loan. The Native American lending industry seems to have landed at $3K as a top loan amount to an individual borrower. The only other tribal lender that beat this top amount was Western Sky and they folded in late 2013. Great Plains is nice because it's a pretty easy loan to qualify for and they will provide more than six months to repay the debt. Not a bad option if you are in need of a larger loan amount and especially if Plain Green Loans turned you down, this can be a second choice to that firm.
3. Mobiloans - this is my personal favorite lender and the only reason they weren't first on the list was their somewhat limited $1,500 maximum loan amount. I've talked to the company more than a few times about this dollar amount and tried to make them realize they could be far and away the best tribal lender in the market if they would only raise that amount to a more competitive level. But they haven't budged and I doubt they will, most likely they are making good money (and managing their risk) by keeping the top loan amount at $1,500. Mobiloans is a bit different than most of online lending institutions because they issue a line of credit rather than a payday loan or an installment loan. The line of credit is applied for (just like any lending product) but when the request is approved the loan is not necessarily issued. Instead, the credit line is granted and is waiting as a reserve. The borrower can call on the whole amount to be issued as a loan or they can take small loans at a time, leaving the unused credit line difference for a later date. A line of credit can be accessed several times for small amounts and can be utilized over a long period of time.
4. Spotloan - I like Spotloan mainly because this installment lender is very flexible. When I worked with this lender about a year ago they offered to make adjustments to the terms of the loan and they followed through on what they promised. Rather than just a customer service phone number to contact the company they provide you with a personal account manager with a direct line to dial in for any problems, requests, adjustments or favors to ask. Although there are of course limitations this is the tribal lender you want if you need special help, special situations, a long lead time for your first repayment date or any unusual borrowing events. Spotloan is especially good for people who need more time to repay. That's not to say you won't eventually pay for that time but Spotloan will work with their customers to find the schedule and pay dates that work for the customer and not try to drive a hard bargain where the customer must repay funds on hard dates. The main problem with Spotloan is that their maximum loan amount is $800 and that includes established clients, too. That's just very low and it's really surprising to see such a progressive lender act so limited in their lending business. There's no reason why Spotloan shouldn't have higher loan amounts considering they are an installment lender with many repayment dates spread across months.
5. Clear Creek Lending - Another installment lender that has somewhat higher rates. One of their typical APR's is 390% and another common rate is 420% APR. But the company does allow up to a $2,500 maximum dollar loan so that part is good. Clear Creek Lending is a good back-up to some of these other lenders I've already mentioned. The company needs to put in place some lower interest rates and then they would get a lot more attention from the borrowing community.
6. RadiantCash - this is surprising last place finish for a tribal payday loan company. Normally I will stay away from payday lenders altogether but I'm making an exception for this innovative tribal loan shop. RadiantCash is different because each new loan moves the customer into a somewhat better interest rate. As more loans are taken out the lower the interest rates go. If a customer gets to their 11th loan with RadiantCash the effective interest rate is 1.5% for a pay period which is tremendously loan. Unfortunately this is a tribal payday operation so I'm not too happy with the timeframe to repay the loan and I'm not pleased with the lower dollar maximum loan amount of $1,000. This is a new company that's trying to put forth this vibrant image and they have a very modern website. People that take out multiple short-term loans every year should consider this lender because that repeat business can provide much cheaper interest rates. Which is good because then it makes it easier to pay off the loans.
These are my six top tribal lending companies right now. Getting the best reservation loan is not going to be easy, or will it? Most of these firms are not too hard to qualify for if you have any kind of a job that can be verified. If you are shopping for a tribal loan (most likely since you've been frozen out of the state licensed lending market) then you would probably do best to choose one of these six tribally organized lending companies.
Recent Comments