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Prestamos PPP Loans Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Why: Plaintiffs accuse Prestamos of pocketing government fees for PPP loan applications, but never funding the applicants.
- Who: Small business owners sued Prestamos, a lending company.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was lodged in Pennsylvania federal court
Three small business owners lodged a class action complaint against the lender Prestamos for exploiting the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for its own gain by collecting fees but failing to pay out loans as promised.
The lead plaintiffs are Alicia Marshall, Daniel Pronsky, and Paris Townsend all of whom lost significant income due to the coronavirus pandemic, subsequently applied and were approved for a PPP loan with Prestamos in early 2021, but say they never received their funds.
The class action lawsuit argues that Prestamos’s failure to fund these Small Business Association-approved PPP loans directly harmed Marshall’s in-home healthcare business, Pronsky’s barbeque catering business, and Townsend’s hair care products business.
Marshall, Pronsky, and Townsend seek to represent a national Class of persons and entities in the US who, in 2021, timely applied for PPP loans with Prestamos, but did not receive loan proceeds despite approval, as well as a similar California subclass.
Prestamos Fails to Pay Up on PPP Loans
Marshall, Pronsky, and Townsend each received Small Business Association (SBA) approval on their PPP loan applications and a promissory note regarding the loans.
Despite properly completing, signing, and submitting the required loan documents and multiple attempts to obtain the loan proceeds, they never received their loan funds, says the class action lawsuit.
Marshall even checked with her local SBA office about the loan; the SBA had information of her loan, its approval, and alleged disbursement, although she still hadn’t received the money.
Many other borrowers have complained about not receiving their due funds from Prestamos on the Better Business Bureau’s website and various social media sites.
Under PPP loan provisions, Prestamos should have funded these loans within 10 days of SBA approval. Unfortunately, despite its designation as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), which indicates its dedication to “helping economic growth in underserved areas,” Prestamos failed to follow through on many small business loans it processed.
Prestamos Allegedly Used PPP Loans to Make Itself Money Instead
As an authorized PPP lender, Prestamos was entitled to receive fees from the SBA for each PPP loan it processed. In 2020, Prestamos processed nearly 1,000 PPP loans, reportedly receiving $1.3 million in fees from the SBA, according to court documents.
In 2021, after the SBA increased its fee rates, Prestamos processed nearly 500,000 PPP loans through May 31, 2021. So far, this outstrips all other lenders in 2021, and is more than the total number of PPP loans made by Bank of America, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and Wells Fargo combined, according to the complaint.
Thanks to that substantial amount, Prestamos has reportedly received nearly $1.2 billion in fees in 2021.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory, consequential, and other damages; prejudgment interest; restitution and all other forms of equitable monetary relief including all PPP loan proceeds owed; disgorgement of all fees Prestamos obtained; punitive damages; and reasonable court costs.
Did you apply for a PPP loan from Prestamos or another lender but never received your money? Let us know in the comments section below!
The plaintiffs are represented by Lawrence J. Lederer, Michael L. Murphy, and Patricia M. Kipnis of Bailey & Glasser LLP and Justin A. Heller and Matthew M. Zapala of Nolan Heller Kauffman LLP.
The Prestamos PPP Loans Class Action Lawsuit is Marshall, et al. v. Prestamos CDFI, LLC, Case No. 2:21-cv-04337, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
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130 thoughts onPPP Loans Exploited by ‘Community Development’ Lender Prestamos, Lining Pockets With $1.2B
Funds sent back to prestamos and haven’t recieved a dime since.. approved in May
I was funded and my bank returned it it’s been funded since June 14 but I still don’t have it
I was also approved by Prestamos CDFI, then denied and never received funds and SBA is requesting that I apply for forgiveness. They continuously made up fictitious information regarding the inability to fund my loan need to join this class action law suit
Was approved by prestmos than denied never funded now being asked to apply for loan forgiveness on a loan I never got
Please include me , was approved and never funded and have even be approved for forgiveness .
Stole my loan my business is about to bankrupt as well how do I add myself to the class action law suit prestamos cdfi had me sign for loan but didn’t give it to me
I am actually about to be interviewed next week for a follow up piece to BlueAcorn/Prestamos PPP loan article that I read that infuriated me so much I reached out to the reporter and she is doing a follow up article based on the massive number of us who were swindled by these organizations. I too had my signed and approved loan w/ Prestamos and had my money returned after I was approved and that was keystone issue that probably links each and everyone of us, the money got returned. Than instead of standing by Blueacorns whole oh if you are SBA approved, your funds are earmarked and set aside for you, that was not the case. I had an assistant of my states SBA representative call me one afternoon and in a profanity laced provision of facts, advised me of the whole situation and how they simply moved beyond those unfortunate enough to have funds returned and continued funding as many as they could. Hopefully that is the case and they didnt just simply steal the money. But either way, I am owed money and I have been waiting and aching for this process of a class action to start, ever since I was blatantly professing to Blueacorn and Prestamos that it was coming and when I was trying to spread awareness on Reddit to those naive enough to think this wasnt the case. Now I see they recently just had mass denials for all those who continued to submit tickets wondering where their approved loan was in this shady process. It’s disgusting. I need what I am owed and much more for the mental anguish and the fact that this was a company federally backed and advocated who not only didnt do what they claimed but did it to a certain segment of the populace that at the time were specifically being targeted to receive this assistant and everyone else was cut off since their was such a dire need for it amongst the lower classes. All these other fraudsters and unscrupulous individuals were having a free for all in being allowed to abuse this program, and when I legitimately provided all approved and required documentation, I get the third degree and am denied after having been approved by Blueacorn, a company that perpetrated fraud outright initially, and now say they are denying me after doing a secondary review, a review that was done by the SBA and approved and not within their purview to even attempt. Hopefully this lawsuit goes after Blueacorn just as much as Prestamos, because you couldnt even reach Prestamos. Only lender I’ve ever ever heard of that defers to the middleman for all servicing, questions or funding after they signed a contract between myself them and the SBA. Ridiculous. So glad this is coming to the light because their are hundreds of questions that I demand be answered!
Prestomas funded me but did not give me the loan i signed for with them
Please include me as well. I too was approved a loan from Prestomos and still haven’t received payment. SBA sent me an email informing me that I can now apply for forgiveness on the loan I never received. According to their records loan was dispersed 6/2/21. I am deviated to learn that the lender has done this to hundreds of thousands of struggling Americans and their families fraudulently using this crisis to steal from the ones who need it the most and the U.S.Government whom intended funds to quickly reach businesses in greatest need.
I had prestamos as a lender too and they never funded my ppp loan although I was approved
Yes please add me
Yes I have the same issue. was approved have an approval number, even finally talked to someone at the SBA and they told me my funds were in a bank account not affiliated with me. When getting in touch with PRESTAMOS they said after further review I couldn’t be funded and the SBA website isn’t up to date. and then no longer responded to any emails of mine. the SBA website is current and still says I was funded. and PRESTAMOS keeps putting the blame to Blue Acorn. how do I get in on this class action as my business is about to go bankrupt because of PRESTAMOS as I was supposed to have been funded June 2nd.
Get your documentation together and contact the law firm.