LendUMo Class Action Lawsuit: Settlement and Pending Cases

If you borrowed from LendUMo between July 24, 2016, and October 1, 2023, the main LendUMo class action lawsuit has already settled: a federal judge in Virginia gave final approval in December 2024 to a deal that cancelled roughly $1.4 billion in outstanding loans from LendUMo and its sister tribal lenders and set aside a $37.35 million cash fund for borrowers who paid back more than they borrowed.¹² Two newer suits filed directly against LendUMo in Illinois and Indiana are still moving through the courts, and those cases do not affect the settlement payments already going out.

The Settlement That Cancelled LendUMo Loans

The settled case is Fitzgerald v. Wildcat, Case No. 3:20-CV-00044-NKM-JCH, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in 2020.³ The plaintiffs alleged that lending entities affiliated with the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in Wisconsin issued loans at interest rates that often topped 700 percent, in violation of state and federal law.⁴

Judge Norman K. Moon granted preliminary approval on August 1, 2024, and final approval on December 17, 2024. The settlement became effective on January 16, 2025.¹ Tribal officials denied any wrongdoing as part of the agreement.⁵

Two things happened under the agreement. Every unpaid loan issued by the covered lenders during the class period was cancelled — about $1.4 billion in balances erased.¹ And a $37,350,000 cash fund was created for borrowers who had already paid back more than the principal on their loans.² The tribe’s business arm, the LDF Business Development Corporation, contributes $2 million of that fund, and nontribal partners tied to five of the lending firms pay the rest.⁴ Tribal officials also agreed to request deletion of negative credit reporting connected to the covered loans.

Who Qualifies for a Payment

The class covers roughly 980,000 borrowers nationwide who took out a loan from any of the LDF-affiliated tribal lending brands between July 24, 2016, and October 1, 2023.⁴ That list includes LendUMo along with Lendgreen, Sky Trail Cash, Bright Star Cash, Loan at Last, Nine Torches, AvailBlue, Bridge Lending, Cash Aisle, Evergreen Services, Makwa Finance, RadiantCash, and zFunds.⁶ If your loan came from any of these brands during that window and you did not opt out, you are a class member.

You do not need to file a claim. Both the debt cancellation and any cash payment are automatic for class members who stayed in. Payments are not a flat amount. Each borrower’s share of the cash fund is calculated from the principal they paid and any interest paid above their state’s legal cap.⁷ So a borrower who paid several thousand dollars in excess interest will see more than one who overpaid by a smaller margin.

The first round of payments went out in March 2025. A second distribution is scheduled for June 2026 for borrowers whose initial payments were successfully delivered.¹ If you want an estimate of your recovery, or you never received a payment you think you were owed, you can reach the settlement administrator at 800-348-2540 or info@consumerloansettlement.com.⁷

Cases Still Pending Against LendUMo

The Fitzgerald settlement did not close out every claim. Two proposed class actions filed since then name LendUMo — formally, Niswi, LLC doing business as LendUMo — as a defendant directly, along with Soaren Management, LLC, LDF Holdings, LLC, and executive Brittany Allen.

Gonzalez v. Niswi (Illinois)

In January 2024, Illinois borrower Nicole Gonzalez filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.⁸ She alleged she took out a $1,300 LendUMo loan in January 2022 at an interest rate of 580.94 percent. The complaint brings claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and the Illinois Interest Act, which bars unlicensed lenders from charging more than 9 percent. Gonzalez asks the court to declare the loans void and unenforceable, block further collection, and award treble damages under RICO.⁹ The proposed class covers Illinois residents who took LendUMo loans at rates above the state cap.

Taylor v. Niswi (Indiana)

A second case, Taylor v. Niswi, LC d/b/a LendUMo, Case No. 1:25-cv-00918-TWP-MJD, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The defendants are the same set named in Gonzalez. As of June 2026, the defendants have moved to compel arbitration or, in the alternative, dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim; the plaintiff has filed her opposition.¹⁰

A related suit, Gill et al. v. Soaren Management, LLC et al., was filed by 17 plaintiffs in April 2025 in what appears to be a federal court in Wisconsin. It is in its early stages.¹¹

The Legal Theory Behind the Claims

All of these cases rest on the same theory: that LendUMo is a “rent-a-tribe” operation. The argument is that non-tribal companies use a federally recognized tribe’s sovereign immunity as a shield against state usury caps while running the lending themselves and keeping most of the money.

The Gonzalez complaint alleges the Lac du Flambeau tribe receives only about 1 to 3 percent of the revenue LendUMo generates, while Soaren Management performs virtually every real business function: portfolio management, payment collection, call center work, credit reporting, and customer service. Soaren’s customer service staff, according to the complaint, works out of Las Vegas, not the tribe’s Wisconsin reservation. Soaren is organized under Delaware law and, according to the filings, is indirectly owned by Andrew Dunn through a parent called Kraken Holdings, LLC. The Gonzalez complaint calls Dunn and Soaren the “true beneficial owners” of LendUMo.⁹

Two federal rulings back this line of attack. In Hengle v. Treppa, decided November 16, 2021, the Fourth Circuit held that online tribal lending is “off-reservation conduct” subject to state law, that arbitration clauses forcing the exclusive use of tribal law are unenforceable, and that tribal officers can be sued for prospective injunctive relief even where the tribe itself is immune.¹² And in June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court held 8-1 in Lac du Flambeau Band v. Coughlin that the Bankruptcy Code abrogates the sovereign immunity of federally recognized tribes, so tribal lenders cannot use immunity to override a bankruptcy stay.¹³ That case arose from a $1,100 payday loan issued by Lendgreen, one of the tribe’s other lending brands.¹⁴

If You Still Have a LendUMo Loan Today

LendUMo continues to operate. Its website advertises short-term installment loans of up to $2,000 for new borrowers and $2,500 for repeat customers, with fixed weekly or monthly installments. The site does not publish interest rates or APRs, saying those appear in the individual loan agreement. Late fees of $30 apply to payments three or more days overdue, and returned payments carry a $30 fee. There is no prepayment penalty.¹⁵

Loans issued after October 1, 2023, sit outside the Fitzgerald class period, so they were not cancelled by that settlement and are not covered by the automatic payments. The Better Business Bureau has logged 116 complaints against LendUMo over the past three years, 28 of them in the most recent 12 months. The company is not BBB-accredited. Complaints cite interest rates between 400 and 800 percent, difficulty settling balances after making substantial payments, and payoff quotes that were not honored.¹⁶

State attorneys general have also gone after the broader lending network. In November 2024, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reached a consent decree with the tribe cancelling more than $1 million in outstanding loans owed by Minnesota residents and barring the 12 LDF lending entities from further unlawful lending in the state; the state’s investigation found rates between 200 and 800 percent, against Minnesota’s 36 percent cap.⁶¹⁷ If you believe you were charged an unlawful rate on a loan outside the settled class period, your state attorney general’s office is one place to file a complaint, along with the settlement administrator if you think a loan of yours should have been covered.

1
Consumer Loan Settlement. Fitzgerald v. Wildcat Settlement
2
APG-WI / Sawyer County Record. Judge Approves Historic $1.5 Billion Payday Loan Settlement Involving Lac du Flambeau Tribe
3
Top Class Actions. Historic $1.5B Settlement Seeks Payday Loan Forgiveness Other Relief
4
Wisconsin Public Radio. Lac du Flambeau Tribal Leaders and Lenders Reach Deal in Class Action Lawsuit
5
ProPublica. Wisconsin Lac du Flambeau Tribe Predatory Lending Lawsuit Sovereign Immunity
6
Minnesota Attorney General. LDF Holdings Consent Order
7
Consumer Loan Settlement. Fitzgerald v. Wildcat Settlement – FAQ
8
ClassAction.org. LendUMo.com Hit With Rent-a-Tribe Class Action in Illinois Over Allegedly Excessive Payday Loan Interest Rates
9
ClassAction.org. Gonzalez v. Niswi LLC et al. – Complaint
10
Leagle. Taylor v. Niswi LC d/b/a LendUMo
11
PACER Monitor. Gill et al v. Soaren Management LLC et al – Complaint
12
Justia. Hengle v. Treppa
13
Supreme Court of the United States. Lac du Flambeau Band v. Coughlin, No. 22-227
14
SCOTUSblog. Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin
15
LendUMo. LendUMo FAQ
16
Better Business Bureau. LendUMo BBB Business Profile – Complaints
17
ProPublica. Minnesota AG Ellison Lac du Flambeau Tribal Lending Settlement