Over the past decade, online lenders have taken the credit industry by storm. In 2017, over 73% of loans to new customers originated online. Storefront lenders are now a dying breed, but online lenders are multiplying exponentially. There are an endless array of options to choose from, whatever your needs and creditworthiness levels are.
Featured Alternative: DebtHammer
- Break the borrowing cycle
- Can help with many types of debt, including payday and tribal loans
- Friendly and helpful customer support – no judgment
Updated 2023: Lendgreen is not going to be the solution to your problems. It has stopped issuing loans altogether and the website has been disabled. But there’s still plenty to learn about the types of loans they issued through the same Native American reservation in Lac du Flambeau, Wisc. If you’re considering borrowing money through a tribal lender, read on.
Table of Contents
What is Lendgreen?
Lendgreen is a strictly online lender that provides short-term, high-interest, installment loans to consumers. They’re flexible with their underwriting and are more than happy to work with people who don’t have attractive credit profiles.
Unfortunately, their loans are much more expensive than traditional borrowing options. The company acknowledges publicly that they’re costly and that borrowers should only take out one of their loans in dire circumstances. In their fine-print disclaimers at the bottom of their home page, Lendgreen states:
“This is an expensive form of borrowing. Lendgreen loans are designed to assist you in meeting your short-term borrowing needs and are not intended to be a long-term financial solution.”
Lendgreen was a tribal lender, which means that they’re a legal subsidiary of a Native American tribe and abide by tribal laws (plus the applicable federal laws). Lendgreen is an extension of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, which is the party that endorses the business license on their site.
Is Lendgreen Licensed?
Lendgreen’s mailing address is in Wisconsin, but they do business from the Native American reservation in Lac du Flambeau. They don’t have a license from the state like traditional banks or even most other online lenders.
Tribal lenders benefit from the Native Americans’ tribal immunity. That makes it almost impossible to sue them. They use that privilege primarily to get around state regulations, including the interest rate limits.
Lendgreen’s website stated: “Lendgreen is not subject to suit by you or any third-party for any reason. If you are not comfortable doing business with a sovereign Indian tribe that is not subject to suit, you should immediately discontinue using and accessing this site.”
Working with a tribal lender that can casually shrug off lawsuits is dangerous. They can and will break the laws that are only in place to protect consumers.
Typical Loan Terms
Fortunately, Lendgreen is pretty open about their typical loan terms. There are some details that borrowers can only learn after receiving their loan documents, but most of the impactful terms are available to the public. Here are the most significant ones that borrowers need to know:
- Principal balances between $400 to $1,500
- Maximum principal balances for first-time customers of $1,200
- Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) between 720% and 795%
- Repayment schedules between three and 18 months
- Additional fees for late or nonpayment
Lendgreen’s interest rates are outrageously high, even among their fellow tribal lenders. At their lowest effective interest rate (720%), a $400 loan with a three-month repayment term would end up costing $553 in interest. That would break down into three monthly payments of $318 for a total repayment amount of $953.
Online Reputation
Looking at a business’ history of customer satisfaction (or lack thereof) says a lot about what you can expect when interacting with them. Lendgreen has been in business for at least eight years, so they have a decently verifiable online reputation. There are quite a few Lendgreen review pages across the internet. Here are some of the highlights that potential borrowers need to know.
Crowdsourced Reviews
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is one of the best places to gather customer reviews. They have a more robust screening system than most crowdsourced review sites and use the information they receive to rate companies themselves.
Unfortunately, Lendgreen’s BBB profile only has a couple of traditional reviews, and lists the following notice:
That doesn’t necessarily limit your options, though. The Lac du Flambeau Chippewa Indians have roughly a dozen lending companies.
Lawsuits
Another useful lens into a business’s reputation is to look at any lawsuits that customers have initiated against them. While there are no results online for suits against Lendgreen itself, there are some for proceedings against their alleged owners: The Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
Isaiah A. Jones III sued the leaders of the tribe in 2019 for their illegal business practices while operating as RadiantCash, another entity of theirs. As mentioned above, they have several, including Loan at Last. Unfortunately, the federal court that heard the case ruled in favor of the Tribe and upheld that their tribal immunity protected them.
Pros
While tribal loans are almost always too expensive to be a good idea, there are some understandable reasons behind borrowers’ desire to work with them. Lenders know this and plays up their traits that are most attractive to someone in need of emergency support. Here are some of the most readily identifiable:
- Their online application is brief enough to complete in a few minutes and very user-friendly.
- Their qualification requirements are easy enough to meet that virtually any working adult can do so.
- They can transfer loan funds to approved customers within the same business day of approval.
- Their principal balances go as low as $400 which is perfect for financing small emergencies.
In all fairness, these loans would be perfect for their target market (people in financial distress with low creditworthiness) if not for the unreasonably high interest rates and fees.
Cons
Borrowing from a tribal lender can be tempting at first, but doing even a little bit of due diligence reveals that they’re not safe. They’re nearly identical in form and function to the traditional payday lending model, which consistently traps borrowers in a cycle of debt. If anything, they’re worse than payday lenders since they have higher loan balances, longer repayment terms, and tribal immunity.
These are the biggest problems:
- Their interest rates reach almost 800% APR, which is roughly 47 times that of the average credit card.[2]
- Lendgreen willingly provides loans to people who can’t possibly repay them.
- Tribal immunity means that Lendgreen is much more likely than their licensed counterparts to break the law.
Better Alternatives
Consumers typically turn to businesses like Lendgreen because they’re desperate for financial support, unable to qualify for it from traditional lenders, and fail to fully understand the costs. It’s an understandable mistake, but still a mistake, nonetheless.
There are plenty of financing options out there for people with bad credit that are far superior to installment loans from Lendgreen. Here are some of our favorites:
- Paycheck Advance Apps: While these apps aren’t technically loans, they are the perfect substitute for people in need of a little bit of cash. They let users get up to a few hundred dollars for the hours they’ve worked during a pay period before payday.
- Secured Personal Loan Providers: For people with valuable assets, these loans are a great way to get around poor credit. Lenders don’t like giving money to people they think may not pay them back, but collateral renders that whole argument a moot point.
- Credit Unions: Credit unions operate similarly to traditional banks, but consumers have to become members before they can use their services. They usually offer loans at much more affordable rates than banks, even to people who have less than stellar credit.
Any of these alternatives would be a better option than taking a loan from Lendgreen, or any other tribal lender, for that matter. They’re almost (if not just as) accessible and infinitely more affordable.
The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a yes or no recommendation on Lendgreen, here’s your answer: Take your business elsewhere. Lendgreen is no longer issuing loans, so you’ll need to find another lender. But there are plenty of better alternatives. Be sure to exhaust your other options before turning to any tribal lender.