Western Sky Financial LLC – Page 4

WSJ on New York’s Suit against Indian Country Payday Lenders

August 13, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here. Excerpt:

Courts have long upheld that tribal-owned businesses enjoy the same sovereign immunity as tribal governments and aren’t subject to state law. Matthew Fletcher, director of Michigan State University’s Indigenous Law and Policy Center, said the ownership structure of a firm has bearing on its legal defenses in such situations. Lenders owned by an individual member of a tribe but not deemed to be owned by the tribe itself would have less ground in attempting to block lawsuits or other state action, he said.

“I would assume the tribe and the tribal entity would respond by saying you don’t have jurisdiction over the tribal nation,” Mr. Fletcher said.

Michigan Regulators Targeting Western Sky Financial

August 2, 2013August 2, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

News coverage here. And here.

Federal Court Class Action Complaint Filed against Payday Financial/Western Sky/Butch Webb

July 16, 2013July 16, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the complaint in Heldt v. Payday Financial LLC (D. S.D.):

Heldt Complaint

News coverage here.

Update in Inetianbor v. Cash Call (Western Sky Financial) — Arbitrator Alleged Biased — Court Finds Irrelevant

June 21, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the new materials:

Inetianbor Motion to Reconsider

Cashhcall Opposition

Inetianbor Reply in Support of Reconsideration

DCT Order Denying Motion

An excerpt:

Here, Plaintiff asserts that he has uncovered two new pieces of evidence that indicate that Mr. Chasing Hawk is biased toward CashCall. First, Plaintiff claims that Mr. Chasing Hawk’s daughter, Shannon Chasing Hawk, is employed by Western Sky. Plaintiff has attached what he claims is a printout of Ms. Chasing Hawk’s Facebook profile page, listing “Western Sky Financial” as her employer. See DE 61 at 9. He further alleges that Mr. Chasing Hawk has “10+ kids and every single one of them has either worked for, currently works at CashCall or one of its subsidiaries . . . or had illegally attempted to conduct an unsuccessful arbitration for the defendant.” DE 67 at 2 n.1. Second, Plaintiff alleges that CashCall and Mr. Chasing Hawk have colluded in the initiation of arbitration proceedings. Plaintiff attaches what he claims is an email chain between Mr. Chasing Hawk and an employee of Lakota Cash, LLC (“Lakota Cash”), a subsidiary of Western Sky, which purportedly shows that Lakota Cash prepared the letter for Mr. Chasing Hawk. See id. at 7-8. Plaintiff further claims that he called Mr. Chasing Hawk, and that Mr. Chasing Hawk admitted during the phone call that CashCall had prepared the letter for him. Plaintiff represents that he has tried calling Mr. Chasing Hawk again, but that he told Plaintiff that “I am not able to talk to you because cash call (sic) will get mad. You have to call the attorney, sorry.” Id. at 3.

Prior order here.

Dispute with Western Sky Financial Heads to Arbitration with CRST Elder Robert Chasing Hawk

May 20, 2013May 19, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here are the updated materials in Inetianbor v. Cashcall (S.D. Fla.):

DCT Order Compelling Arbitration

Renewed Motion to Compel

Inetianbor Opposition

57-main [Cashcall Reply]

57-1 [Affidavit of Robert Chasing Hawk]

57-3

57-4 [Consumer loan agreement]

Previous posts on this case are here and here.

Update in Inetianbor v. Cashcall (Western Sky Financial): Federal Court Reopens Case

April 2, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

You may recall from our February post that a federal court had honored an arbitration provision in a Cashcall/Western Sky Financial form agreement and sent the case to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court. That court responded to the plaintiff that the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe does not authorize arbitration under the American Arbitration Association rules, so the plaintiff successfully brought the case back to federal court.

Materials in Inetianbor v. Cashcall Inc. (S.D. Fla.) are here:

DCT Order Granting Motion to Reopen

Inetianbor Motion to Reopen + Tribal Court Letter

Cashcall Opposition

Federal Court Order Compliance with Western Sky Financial Tribal Arbitration Provision

February 18, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are the materials in Inetianbor v. Cashcall Inc. (S.D. Fla.):

DCT Order Granting Motion to Compel Arbitration

Cashcall Motion to Compel Arbitration or Dismiss

Inetianbor Opposition

Cashcall Reply

Inetianbor State Court Complaint

Inetianbor State Court Complaint Amendment

An excerpt:

Here, Defendant argues that the arbitration agreement, by its plain language, covers Plaintiff’s claims. The Court agrees. The terms of the agreement are clear: all disputes between the borrower and the holder of the Note or the holder’s servicer must be settled through arbitration. See Loan Agreement at 5-6. In this suit, Plaintiff seeks damages from Cashcall, the servicer of the note, for actions related to Cashcall’s servicing and collecting on the note. See Amended Complaint at 2. Therefore, Plaintiff’s claims fall within the scope of the arbitration provision.