True lender doctrine
A legal test that looks past the named tribal lender to whoever actually funds and profits from the loan.
What "true lender doctrine" means
Under the "true lender" doctrine, a court ignores which entity's name is on the loan and asks who really has the predominant economic interest — who funds it, bears the risk and takes the profit. If a non-tribal financier is the true lender, the tribe's sovereign immunity may not protect the loan.
It is the doctrine behind most rent-a-tribe challenges and the parallel "rent-a-bank" cases. Where regulators or courts find the tribe is not the true lender, the loan can be judged under ordinary state usury law.