Class Action Lawsuit Claims Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Other Banks Refused to Pay Agents for Preparing PPP Applications

Attorneys from Heninger Garrison Davis LLC's class action group along with co-counsel from Geragos & Geragos PC Zimmerman Reed LLP and Zumpano Patricios & Popok PLLC  and Graylaw Group Inc filed a class action complaint against a number of banks for failure to pay agents who assisted with the preparation and filing of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications on behalf of Alliant CPA Group LLC individually and on behalf of a class of similarly situated businesses and individuals

The defendants listed in the 36 page complaint include the following: Bank Of America Corp Bank Of America NA Ameris Bank Bank Ozk Cadence Bancorporation Cadence Bank NA Centerstate Bank Corporation Centerstate Bank NA Newton Federal Bank Synovus Bank Truist Financial Corp Truist Bank United Community Bank Inc United Community Bank (Georgia) Wells Fargo And Company And Wells Fargo Bank NA (Defendants)

The class-action lawsuit alleges the defendants have overstepped Small Business Administration (SBA) mandates by refusing to pay or not paying full agent fees to accountants consultants loan brokers or other representations who helped clients file PPP loan applications

According to the complaint on March 25 2020 in response to the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 crisis the United States Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act the CARES Act as a means for small businesses to receive federally backed forgivable loans to assist with battling economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 crisis Though backed by the SBA the PPP was to be administered through private lenders such as the defendants who in return for administering a PPP loan would receive between one- and five-percent fees depending on the size of the loan the case explains

The SBA Regulations include not only compensation for Lenders but also agents including an attorney accountant consultant employee of the borrower who prepares their employer's application anyone who assists a lender in relation to an SBA loan loan broker or any other individual who represents an applicant in its business with the SBA These agents including plaintiffs were to be paid for their services by the PPP lender through a portion of the funds it received from the SBA 

According to the lawsuit despite SBA regulations the defendants have either refused to pay PPP agents as a matter of policy or have agreed to pay only a percentage of the fees owed Additionally the defendants effectively denied payment of PPP Agent Fees by making it impossible to indicate that Agent Fees were due refusing to accept relevant SBA Forms and/or refusing to allow the applicant to indicate that a PPP Agent assisted the applicant

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in this lawsuit are asking for relief for the Plaintiffs including equitable recoverable compensatory statutory and other damages

Heninger Garrison Davis Partner Jim McDonough sums it up like this Unfortunately this is another case where the banks saw an opportunity to take from the very businesses that were intended to benefit from the PPP program—like the small CPA and accounting businesses that are our clients in these lawsuits—in order to fatten their wallets We look forward to the Courts making the banks pay our clients for their work in getting funding into the hands of those who needed it the most

Heninger Garrison Davis LLC is a national law firm and our attorneys defend valuable rights for our clients To determine if you should file suit consult one of the lawyers on our PPP Agent Fee team as soon as possible to understand your options  We do not charge any fees upfront In fact we will only charge attorney's fees if we obtain a financial settlement for you If you do not win we get nothing  Call us today for your free case evaluation 18002419779  You fill out the form here

Or you can email Jim McDonough at [email protected]

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