TLC Funds is a Native American lender that has been growing and is fast becoming one of the leading online lenders. I like this company because they are at least dedicated to web security. It was a few months back when I visited the site and I thought it needed some help, and now it looks much better.
Even more important is the fact that the company listened. There have only been a few times when I offered advice and/or complaints about things I would like to have changed and that have been followed through on. Most of the concepts I offer to people at tribal lenders just get disregarded or I get the regular email saying "thanks but no thanks" type of message.
Here is one thing that is a little strange about the TLC Funds website. The "Apply Now" button doesn't seem to be working at the moment. I'm going to contact the company and see if they are still accepting new loans at this time because they might be in one of those famous 'hiatus' timeframes that has been taking place at so many Native American loan shops these days.
This behavior started back in September of 2013 when the state of New York made some inroads and a big stink about tribal lending being a problem. On one hand I can't say that I blame the New York financial regulator for wanting to reign in what are clearly terrible interest rates. While some tribal lenders have APR that hover around 60% there are a few others that are topping out over 800% with their annual percentage rate. Not too cool for your average consumer trying to buy milk and gas, not to mention keeping the heat on and paying the phone bill.
However, I think the problem that New York is going to find at either the appellate court level or maybe at the U.S. Supreme Court is that only the U.S. Congress can regulate the Native American sovereign lands and business charters. The courts don't have sway, the state governments are powerless to do anything about them, and even the U.S. President has no say in the passage of laws or rules on the tribal lands. Only Congress (both of the chambers have to mutually decide) can make a change enforcing laws for the tribes. This was part of a special agreement that was made long ago when there was so much conflict between the constant growth of European settlers and the diminishing lands of the tribes.
I don't think that the U.S. Supreme Court is going to feel they have the power to jump into and on top of this special power that Congress holds. Not only that, but I doubt that Congress would appreciate them doing so. And it's Congress that usually has the upper hand over the Supreme Court, as they can rewrite laws and pass new, slightly adjusted legislation that supersedes (or slides around) the rulings of the Supreme Court.
But in the time before all that transpires the state of New York (and Colorado, and California to a lesser extent) will continue to make things difficult for tribal lenders. And that's where I believe we might find TLC Funds right at the moment. We'll keep a watch on them and update when their website has a working application process back up and running. Plus, who knows, this might just be a temporary (IT) situation anyway.
Either way, it's good to see that TLC Funds has an updated and more user friendly website. The old one just had to go.
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