An 80,000-borrower Pennsylvania settlement voided a $133 million tribal loan scheme
Think Finance operated online lending brands including Plain Green Loans through partnerships with tribal entities, charging interest rates as high as 448% while shielding the arrangement behind claims of tribal and bank-partner immunity from state law. Pennsylvania's Attorney General sued, and in July 2019 announced a settlement cancelling all remaining balances on roughly $133 million in loans made to about 80,000 Pennsylvania borrowers. The CFPB separately settled its own 2017 suit against related tribal-lending entities in 2020, requiring more than $39 million set aside for consumer redress.
- Year
- 2019
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Settled
- Reported loss
- $133.0 million
- Victims
- 80,000
- Schemes
- Tribal lending scams
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-29
The facts, as recorded
- The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General sued Think Finance, alleging that its online lending websites, including Plain Green Loans, charged interest rates as high as 448%.
- The lawsuit alleged the websites shielded themselves from state and federal law by operating under the guise of Native American tribal affiliation and a bank-partner arrangement with the First Bank of Delaware.
- Plain Green Loans was affiliated with the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Reservation in Montana, which was paid a percentage of loan revenue under the arrangement.
- In July 2019, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced a settlement voiding all remaining balances on the $133 million in loans made to an estimated 80,000 Pennsylvania consumers, with a fund established to refund borrowers who had repaid more than their principal plus a lawful 6% interest.
- Shapiro said: 'This is a model of how aggressive enforcement by one state can lend itself to nationwide relief for consumers.'
- The CFPB separately sued four Think Finance-linked tribal lending entities: Golden Valley Lending, Silver Cloud Financial, Mountain Summit Financial and Majestic Lake Financial, owned by the Habematolel Pomo Tribe, in 2017, alleging illegal collection on loans void under state law in 17 states.
- The CFPB's settlement, announced in February 2020, required the Think Finance entities to set aside more than $39 million for consumer redress and imposed a $1 civil penalty per entity based on inability to pay more, alongside a 17-state prohibition on collecting on loans that violate those states' lending laws.
Why this case matters
This is the clearest documented example of a state, rather than a federal agency, unwinding a tribal lending arrangement, and of the specific violation the CFPB pursued separately: continuing to collect on loans that were already void under state law, not merely overpriced.
Two shields, not one
The Pennsylvania lawsuit’s most distinctive allegation is that the operation layered two separate legal shields, a tribal affiliation claim and a bank-partner arrangement with the First Bank of Delaware, rather than relying on tribal immunity alone.
What voiding a loan actually means
Cancelling “all remaining balances” is a specific, enforceable remedy: it does not just stop future collection, it eliminates the debt itself for the roughly 80,000 Pennsylvania borrowers covered by the settlement, on the legal theory that the loans were void from the start under the state’s own usury cap.
The caveat
This case file describes two related but separate resolved proceedings, Pennsylvania’s state settlement and the CFPB’s federal settlement, both of which concluded with negotiated agreements rather than a trial verdict. The $1 civil penalties reflect the CFPB’s own finding on the entities’ ability to pay more, not a judgment that the underlying conduct was minor.
Sources
- Pa. Attorney General Announces Payday Loan Relief Settlement. CBS News Pittsburgh. Accessed 2026-09-29. Supports: The $133 million figure, the 80,000 affected Pennsylvanians, the 448% interest rate, the tribal and First Bank of Delaware shielding claim, the 24 July 2019 settlement date, and Attorney General Shapiro's quote.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Settles Lawsuit Against Think Finance Entities. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Accessed 2026-09-29. Supports: The 2017 CFPB lawsuit, the four tribal-lending entity names, the $39 million-plus redress fund, the $1 civil penalties, and the 17-state collection prohibition.