A Washington federal judge has denied a bid by a fintech firm and a tribal corporation through which the firm ran a payday lending business to force into arbitration a suit over exorbitant interest rates, ruling that arbitration clauses in agreements borrowers signed are invalid. The judge said the unclear loan contract language seems to intend that the tribal law of North Dakota’s Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa Indians should apply — to the exclusion of federal and state law — but he ruled that the agreement goes against public policy and cannot be upheld because it forms a substantive waiver of federal statutory rights. Continue reading “Judge Rejects Arbitration Clause In Tribal Payday Loan Class Action”