From the Billings Gazette:
The Crow Tribe recently signed an innovative agreement with Montana and the federal government that will make it easier for banks to offer secured loans on the reservation. Essentially, it provides for seizure of personal property used as collateral when a loan is in default. (It does not apply to land held in trust for the tribe or its members.)
In 2004, the Crow Tribe adopted The Crow Finance Protection and Procedures Act, which makes it possible for banks to foreclose on trust property within the reservation. The catch is that at the foreclosure sale, the land can be sold only to the Crow Tribe or to a member of the tribe. If no eligible bidder can meet the price, the lender gets the beneficial title to the property but must continue to try to sell it to a qualified Crow buyer.
Differences in state and tribal law do come with some complications, but they aren’t barriers, said Mike Eakin, who works in the Billings office of Montana Legal Services.
“I consider them more of a detour,” he explained. “You can still do it. Remedies are still there. You just have to take a different route.”
For instance, tribal laws generally don’t allow self-help repossession, he said. If a bank wants to repossess a car when a loan hasn’t been repaid, an agent of the bank can’t just come on the reservation and haul the vehicle away as can happen in the rest of the state, Eakin said.
Instead, tribal laws requires that the bank take its case to tribal court first and allow the bank’s defaulting client to present his or her side of the story. If the court finds for the bank, the bank can take the car.
Another example is the legal responsibility of the spouse of a debtor in default. Eakin said he often sees this in unpaid medical bills. Outside the reservation, spouses are usually accountable for each other’s debts. But on the reservation, tribal law may not hold the spouse responsible for bills incurred for services he or she did not personally receive.
Turtle Talk 