Western Sky Financial: What Happened

Western Sky Financial was a heavily advertised online installment lender (roughly 2010–2013) that loaned $850 to $10,000 at APRs the CFPB put at about 90% to 343%. It marketed a Cheyenne River Sioux connection, but it was a South Dakota LLC formed by an individual enrolled member, not a tribal enterprise. A federal court found Western Sky was 'neither owned nor operated by the Tribe' and 'amounted to little more than a shell for CashCall's operations.' It stopped funding new loans around September 2013 amid lawsuits from multiple state attorneys general and the CFPB.

Regulators identified CashCall — a non-tribal California company — and its affiliates WS Funding and Delbert Services as the real lender, servicer, and collector. Courts later ruled CashCall, not Western Sky, was the 'true lender,' so the loans weren't shielded by tribal status and were void or uncollectible under many states' laws. See our CashCall explainer for that side of the story.