One case produced real relief for Cash Advance Now borrowers. Relief in this industry is almost always limited to loans taken inside a specific window, and the settlement sites that would let you check are usually gone. The dates below are the part that decides whether it reaches you.
The cases
The Island Mountain / Fort Belknap cases (Bright Lending family)
enforcementMinnesota loans discharged; financiers named
The Fort Belknap Indian Community’s lending runs through Island Mountain Development Group, which has operated as many as eleven brands from Hays, Montana — Bright Lending (Aaniiih Nakoda Finance LLC), Cash Advance Now (GreatPlains Finance LLC — not to be confused with the Otoe-Missouria’s Great Plains Lending), Target Cash Now (Target Finance LLC) and Green Trust Cash among them.
On 22 February 2024 the Minnesota Attorney General settled with the operators of Bright Lending, Green Trust Cash and Target Cash Now — described as jointly controlled by Island Mountain — over loans of 400–800% APR; the AG documented 634 defaulted Minnesota loans totalling $990,575 from 2018–2022, the companies agreed to stop lending in Minnesota, and the illegal loans were discharged.
That relief is Minnesota-specific. Separately, a run of federal RICO suits against Aaniiih Nakoda Finance d/b/a Bright Lending (Overbeek, N.D. Ill. 1:22-cv-01269; Combs, 3:22-cv-50013; Trawick, S.D. Ind. 1:25-cv-01506) names the non-tribal money behind the brand: BorrowWorks LLC and its principal Benjamin Gatzke, Total Management Inc., and Newport Funding LLC.
✓ Produced relief for borrowers
What to do if you are still being collected from
- Check your loan date first. Relief in this industry is bounded by a window, and the boundary is where people lose. A Mountain Summit loan from February 2021 was not cancelled while its sister brands' were; a Lac du Flambeau loan after 1 October 2023 falls outside the $1.4 billion Fitzgerald cancellation.
- Check your state before you negotiate. In nine states, loans above the rate cap are void — nothing is owed regardless of the contract or any settlement. See where tribal loans are void.
- Do not pay to make it stop. A payment can restart the statute of limitations on a debt that may already be unenforceable. It is the most expensive reflex in debt collection.
- Demand written validation within 30 days of first contact: the original agreement, the full payment history, and proof the collector owns the debt. Chains of sale on tribal loans are frequently incomplete.
- Revoke ACH authorisation in writing — to the lender and, separately, to your bank. Telling only one of the two is the common mistake.
Our full walkthrough is in how to get out of a tribal loan, and can tribal lenders sue you covers what they can and cannot actually do.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a lawsuit against Cash Advance Now?
Yes — The Island Mountain / Fort Belknap cases (Bright Lending family) (Minn. AG settlement + federal RICO suits). Outcome: Minnesota loans discharged; financiers named. It did produce relief for borrowers.
Do I still owe my Cash Advance Now loan?
Possibly not — The Island Mountain / Fort Belknap cases produced relief covering Cash Advance Now. Read the dates below carefully: relief in this industry is almost always limited to a specific window. Outside it, your state's rate cap decides — in nine states these loans are void and nothing is owed.
Can I claim money from a Cash Advance Now settlement?
There is no live claims site for Cash Advance Now. In this industry that is the norm rather than the exception: relief, where it exists, is usually automatic — the administrator uses the lender's own records and pays without a form — or it never reaches borrowers at all.