ATLANTA, May 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 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, N.A.,
Ameris Bank, Bank Ozk, Cadence
Bancorporation, Cadence Bank, N.A.,
Centerstate Bank Corporation, Centerstate Bank, N.A., 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, N.A. (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 1.800.241.9779. You fill out the form
here.
Or you can email Jim McDonough at
jmcdonough@hgdlawfirm.com
No representation is made that the quality of the legal
services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal
services performed by other lawyers.
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SOURCE Heninger Garrison Davis, LLC