Western Sky Financial is an installment loan company who claims that you can get up to $2,525 in your checking account overnight by completing an application that takes less than 5 minutes to fill out.
Western Sky Financial operates within the boundaries of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, which is a sovereign nation within the United States. It is owned by an individual within that nation and not the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation itself.
Recently, the Western Sky commercials have been generating a lot of buzz online, mostly because people find them humorous but also because some people are questioning the claims made in the commercial, specifically your ability to receive thousands of dollars overnight.
It Is Expensive, But There Is No Collateral Required
In the commercial, the spokesman claims “Yes, the money is expensive, but there is no collateral required.” This is a common theme within the payday loan industry.
Before you borrow money from Western Sky, look at their Rates page which describes the APR as well as the loan fee that will be assessed depending on the loan amount you are requesting.
The APR, or Annual Percentage Rate, is the amount of interest you will be required to pay back within a year. When loan companies do not require collateral or high credit scores to approve a loan, it is generally because the APR they charge is extremely high.
In the case of Western Sky, the lowest available APR is 116.73% and can be as high as 215.03%. This means that if you borrow $5,000 from Western Sky at 116.73% APR and take the full 84 months to pay it back, you will have paid $35,872.72 in interest.
The Bottom Line on Western Sky
In the US, individual states have laws that govern payday loan companies and are meant to protect the borrowers from extreme APRs and unrealistic payback schedules.
In the past when Reviewopedia has reviewed online payday loan companies, I have pointed out that borrowing from an online company that is based in another state may make it difficult for your state laws to protect you from predatory lending practices.
In the case of Western Sky, this is further complicated by the fact that Western Sky is based in the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, which acts as an independent nation within the US, meaning that you could potentially have no protection from them at all.
Note: If you’re interested in learning more about Payday Loans check out our detailed guide, “Payday Loans Explained: Should You Ever Get One?” for more info.
Only then, you will have some money for emergencies and to live on when you eventually get laid off of that "great paying job."
All Wester Sky loans are considered "off the reservation". They do not loan to tribal members or residents of South Dakota.
Western Sky SOLICITS their loan product via TV advertisements and the internet in various, if not all, States in the US. By doing so, clearly all of the contracts produced have been made "off the reservation". Honestly, how would people know of these loans had it not been for them advertising via the TV.
However, the above is moot when considering the following:
Western Sky is a South Dakota company and NOT a tribal entity formed under a tribal charter.
Martin Webb is a member of the tribe, but he as an individual nor his company has been granted any immunity from State or Federal preemptions in the various court cases I have read. Just because he chose to set up shop on the reservation doesn't mean he can claim immunity.
In Dec 2012 the WS site listed 6 states they were unable to lend to. As of today, they now list a total 22. All of the states that have brought actions against them!
And recently it was discovered that WS aligned itself with Cash Call in a rent- a-tribe scheme. Cash Call has already been called out doing this same type of scheme with the rent-a-bank scheme a few years back. States are doing more research and discovering that Cash Call is the de facto lender of these loans. As a matter of fact the arrangement with WS mirrors the exact same arrangement Cash Call had with the South Dakota bank.
The only difference between a loan shark and WS is WS leaves a paper trail of the illegal activity which has bitten them in the ass.
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And for the record, I like many others, received this loan product and it was not until 6 months later that I was made aware that these loans are illegal in my state of NJ. I had no idea this was a prohibited activity. Did I stop making payments. close my account, inform them of the lending laws in my state....YES I did. Did I feel guilty....NO I did not. Their entire loan agreement was a sham from the get-go. I, in good faith, took the loan with the understanding that this was legitimate. It is not. If they chose to construct a business under the guise of a tribal authority, claim that my state laws do not apply, claim this is governed by a tribe that actually has no connection to this company for the benefit of the tribe, then shame on them. They deserve whatever is coming to them....they created these companies for one sole purpose.....to avoid the various States usury laws so they could charge exorbitant interest rates.
I am within my right to cease payments to them having learned the laws of NJ. It doesn't make me a deadbeat, but a better informed consumer. I learned my lesson 6 months, however I am quite certain that they knew the laws of my state and many others. Their entire agreement is actually considered null and void in my state because they solicited my business. charged interest well above civil and criminal usury, do not hold a license in my state (and never would) and claimed that their loan agreements were governed by tribal law which they are absolutely not. The entire agreement is a lie and they are the deadbeats. They prey on people who may have a financial hardship and all the while lining their pockets with profits made from usurious interest. I feel bad for the tribe as it is their name that is getting dragged through the mud by a greedy, sneaky, deceptive tribal member and his cohort at the top of Cash Call, Paul Reddam. I can only hope that this lender is shut down completely. Their loans hurt people in the long run.
1). Everyone's agreement stipulates that arbitration will be conducted by an authorized representative of the CRST per their consumer dispute rules. Mr. Inetianbor has already challenged this and it has been found that the CRST does not conduct arbitration and there are no consumer dispute rules to reference. Hence, the arbitration clause is null and void
2) Every state that has challenged Western Sky or Cash Call regarding jurisdiction has been denied. The various courts have found that a) an INDIVIDUAL tribal member is NOT granted immunity because HE chose to conduct his business on tribal land, b) Western Sky is a South Dakota company and was never formed under a tribal entity, charter, corporation, c) courts have stipulated that lending over the internet confers jurisdiction in the borrowers state and not the lenders.
A NJ representative submitted a bill to the House in January, A3719 regarding payday loans and classifying them under the Consumer Fraud Act. However, we have been a non-payday loan state any way and the agreements produced by Western Sky are not enforceable in this state. Cash Call and Delbert are both owned 100% by Paul Reddam. They are also violating NJ law by attempting to collect on an illegal loan that indicates interest well above civil and criminal usury.
Even though Western Sky stopped funding loans as of today, 9/3/13 AND now they list all of the states in the US at the bottom of their homepage, We New Jerseyans should be filing our own class action lawsuit and have Christie on board like Coumo in NY. It wasn't until January of this year that I found out this kind of lending was illegal. I wish I would have known sooner.