Network Capital Class Action Says Lender Discriminates Against Families

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A California couple alleges Network Capital Funding makes a practice of discriminating against refinance applicants based on familial status.

Plaintiffs Joshua Doan and Van Duong say defendant Network Capital Funding Corp. systematically denies loans to applicants if they or their co-applicants are on family leave at the time of the loan closing.

The plaintiffs claim the defendant’s actions violate laws that guard against discrimination in housing and lending.

Doan and Duong say Network Capital Funding contacted them in August 2015 after they started to apply for refinancing with a different company, offering to beat that company’s interest rate or fees.

At that time, the plaintiffs were on family leave following the birth of their youngest child. They say Doan was scheduled to return to work at the end of September, and Duong would return in the middle of October.

The plaintiffs say they applied for a Network Capital Funding loan. The company responded by offering them a loan on terms that matched those of the first company but with $500 less in fees.

Based on that offer, Doan and Duong say they cancelled their application with the other company and continued their application with Network Capital Funding.

However, Network Capital Funding then told the plaintiffs it could not process their application because they were on family leave, they claim.

The plaintiffs allege the company said it could not verify the couple’s income until after they returned to work – even though they had already given the defendant copies of their W2s, paystubs, and documentation of their family leave income.

Doan and Duong say that because they were rejected by Network Capital Funding, they had to refinance with a different lender at a higher interest rate.

They say they also cut their family leave short for fear that they would not be able to refinance their mortgage.

In their Network Capital Funding class action lawsuit, plaintiffs argue the defendant’s actions violate the federal Fair Housing Act. The FHA makes it unlawful to deny a dwelling or refuse to make one available because of sex or familial status, or to discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions or privileges of sale for the same reasons.

They also claim Network Capital Funding violates the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which similarly prohibits discrimination in any aspect of a credit transaction on the basis of sex or marital status.

The Network Capital Funding class action lawsuit raises two other counts for violations of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Unfair Competition Law.

Doan and Duong propose to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all persons who applied for a loan with Network Capital Funding and whose applications were denied because they or their co-applicant were, or were expected to be, on maternity or paternity leave.

They seek an injunction barring Network Capital Funding from continuing the allegedly unlawful practices complained of. They also seek an award of damages, restitution and disgorgement of revenues, attorneys’ fees and court costs.

Doan and Duong are represented by Samantha A. Smith of The Cooper Law Firm PC.

The Network Capital Funding Housing Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Doan, et al. v. Network Capital Funding Corp., Case No. 8:16-cv-1678, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.