The tribal lending registry · 46 states · open data

Tribal lenders, documented

Every tribal lender worth borrowing from — or refusing — on one dated index: the owning tribe, the published APRs, the exclusion lists, the litigation history. Pulled from the lenders’ own sites, stamped with verification dates, scored by an open rubric, exported as CSV.

26 indexed lenders, 23 active right now
10 publish their APR ranges publicly — the rest are labeled opaque
Open scoring: inputs and weights on the methodology page, no hidden formula

Indexed lenders: 26
State guides: 46
Last sweep: November 2026

How much do you need?

Two fields. See matched offers for your state.

🔒 Free to compare · No hard credit check at this step · ~3 minutes

Start with the highest-disclosure lenders

The Index Score measures how checkable a lender’s terms are before you sign — published APR ranges, exclusion lists, a named regulator. It is not a quality rating, and it is certainly not a recommendation to borrow at 400% APR; it is a measure of honesty in pricing. The rubric is public: how we score.

Six best-documented tribal lenders (sweep of November 2026)
Lender	Tribe (state)	Typical amounts	Published cost
Spotloan	Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (ND) — brand of Ningo Lending LLC	$300–$800 typical; up to $1,500 for preferred (10+ loan) customers	Maximum 490% APR for new borrowers; rate steps down (330–460%, eventually 99%) with successive on-time payoffs; no origination, rollover or late fees
Mobiloans	Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana — MobiLoans, LLC	Up to $3,000 credit line	APR 73.89%–413.20% (with $20 instant-funding fee); cash-advance fee plus fixed finance charges per draw; no fees if repaid by the due date
Northern Star Lending	Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin	$200–$1,500 first loan; up to $5,000 returning	APR 630%–780% — one of the few tribal lenders that publishes its range; $25 NSF and $25 late fees
Enable Loans	Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation (SD) — Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation subsidiary	New customers to $700; returning customers to $2,000 (rate table $500–$2,000)	Publishes a worked example: 897.48% APR over three months on a $1,000 advance — $715.32 finance charge, total of payments $1,215.32; $35 late (7+ days), $30 NSF
605 Lending	Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe (SD) — FSST Management Services, LLC	Up to $1,000	"Rates are figured on a weekly basis @ 15%" — about 780% APR annualized; no prepayment penalty
River Valley Loans	Crow Creek Sioux Tribe (SD) — Wahido Lending / Dakota Economic Development Corp.	$200–$3,000	APR set by amount and term in the loan agreement; $20 late fee, $30 NSF fee; no prepayment penalty

See all 26 indexed tribal lenders →

The index in three tools

The verified list

Every lender record: tribe, amounts, published cost, exclusion list, per-record verification date, and the open score.

The state matrix

46 state guides computing exactly which lenders take applications where — plus each state’s own statute and cheaper alternatives.

The research desk

Dated longreads: the enforcement timeline, the APR monitor, the brand-factory case studies — sourced to dockets and consent orders.

Three steps between you and cash

Send your request

Pick an amount and drop your ZIP — two fields, and you’re matched with lenders serving your state.
Finish the short form

Income and banking details, verified electronically. No paperwork hunt, no faxing, no branch visit.
Review, sign, get paid

Every fee, the APR, and the due date disclosed in writing before an e-signature. Funds land by ACH, usually next business day.

Start the 3-minute request →

Tribal loans by state

Availability differs by brand, and “no list published” is not the same as “serves your state.” Each guide computes the serving set from published exclusion lists only:

South

West

Northeast

Midwest

What the research desk covers

The registry is only half the job. The research desk keeps the running records nobody else maintains in one place: the full enforcement timeline from Western Sky to the 2026 Seventh Circuit arbitration ruling, a repeating APR monitor that re-checks every indexed lender’s site, and case studies of how one tribe’s holding company ships a dozen lender brands. Fresh pieces land on the blog as the market moves.

What to watch out for before you apply

Confirm the lender is real: a named tribe, a published exclusion list, and a tribal regulator — the index checks all three for every brand.
Check for SSL encryption before you enter a Social Security number or bank details.
Read the agreement end to end — the APR, the fee table, the total of payments, and the arbitration clause that sends disputes to the tribe’s forum.
Look for verified customer reviews and search the CFPB complaint database.
Price it honestly: tribal installment loans cost far more than bank credit — 250%–780% APR is the market band, and the worked examples on each review show what that totals.

Short on cash before payday?

Start the 3-minute request now — checking offers is free and never affects a credit score. Every fee is disclosed in writing before you sign anything.

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Questions borrowers ask

What is the Tribal Lenders Index?

A dated, downloadable registry of American tribal lenders. 26 lending companies owned by federally recognized tribes, each record transcribed from the lender’s own published terms and stamped with the date it was last verified. We also publish the scoring rubric and the full dataset as CSV.

Are you a lender?

No. Tribal Lenders Index is an editorial index and a matching site, not a lender, broker, or agent for any lender. The index documents; the application form routes your request to lenders serving your state. Any loan you accept comes from the lender itself, under its own agreement.

How current is the data?

Every record carries its own verification date — the latest full sweep finished November 2026. When a lender changes its published terms, the record is re-pulled and re-stamped; stale rows are flagged, not silently kept.

Do tribal lenders check your credit?

Most underwrite on verifiable income and banking history instead of a hard pull on the three bureaus; a few reserve the right to check credit later in the process. Checking offers here never affects a credit score.

How much does a tribal loan cost?

Published APRs among indexed lenders run from 34.5% (Uprova’s best tier) to 897% (the worst disclosed example). Most brands cluster at 250%–780%. The worked math on each review page shows what that means in dollars before you sign anything.

Can I qualify with bad credit?

Yes — that is who this market serves. Participating lenders look primarily at verifiable income, an active checking account, and a working phone. Most brands skip the hard credit check at application; a low FICO does not automatically disqualify you.

How fast do funds arrive?

Most requests get a decision in minutes. Approved loans are deposited by ACH as soon as the next business day; several lenders offer same-day wire for a fee on weekday approvals before their cut-off.

Lender facts on this page are transcribed from the lenders’ own published terms (index sweep November 2026) and re-verified on a rolling basis. Tribal Lenders Index is not a lender; see the full disclosure in the site footer.