Castle Payday Review

Castle Payday is a tribal lender and operates under the laws of The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in Michigan. They are not a state licensed lender. In general, The Payday Hound prefers lenders who are state licensed as the states provide additional oversight.

Castle Payday's site is not very informative. They claim to offer an installment loan product but their example rate page is very difficult to decipher and is not a typical installment loan product. It appears for the first six payment periods only the fee is due and then the remaining 38 payments begin to pay down the principal but the actual payment varies. This is not how a typical installment loan is structured. A typical installment loan has a fixed monthly payment. In addition, the payment periods are never stated. They state an APR of 787.93% but it is unclear how this is calculated. Instead it appears they've have just thrown up a random payment schedule and loan selector that doesn't even make sense. This feels deceptive to us. We have estimated the APR as a payday loan that is paid off in 14 days.

The actual loan amount and terms will not be disclosed until after you apply. They will based on, "underwriting criteria, such as your income level." If the loan application is submitted during operational hours Castle Payday will call you back with in 15 minutes. If it is submitted after hours they will respond by the next business day. The state cash can be directly deposited into your checking account the next day via ACH.

As a tribal lender they state your state laws do NOT govern your agreement. Instead, the agreement will be governed by the laws of their tribe -- The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. This type of approach was more common in the early 2010's but this approach was largely stopped after the NY Attorney General sued lenders offering loans in the State of NY (see Great Plains Lending Stops Marketing).

Castle Payday states their minimum qualifications for a loan are,

• Have steady income of at least $700.00 per month.
• Be able to show a verifiable source of income.
• Have an open bank account that's in good standing.
• Be reachable by phone.
• Be at least 18 years old and a permanent U.S. resident.

They also state, "Even past bankruptcy, bounced checks, charge-offs and other credit problems won't prevent applicants from receiving an installment loan from Castle Payday. Other requirements may apply. Castle Payday personal loans are not available in all states. States serviced by Castle Payday may change from time to time with or without notice."

In general, Castle Payday feels like they have put up a nice looking site but are operating as payday or installment lending company that is not regulated by a state. The Payday Hound strongly prefers lenders who are state licensed.