Sovereign immunity waiver
The narrow situation where a tribe consents to be sued — a rare opening for borrowers.
What "sovereign immunity waiver" means
A tribe's immunity can be given up only by a clear, explicit waiver — by the tribe itself or by Congress. Some tribal loan contracts contain a limited waiver (for example, allowing arbitration or suit up to a capped amount), and a genuine arm-of-the-tribe can waive immunity for its commercial dealings.
For a borrower, a waiver in the contract can be the doorway to actually holding a lender accountable. But waivers are read narrowly, and the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Coughlin ruling is more powerful still: it held the Bankruptcy Code abrogates tribal immunity without any waiver at all.