https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/04/20/small-businesses-sue-chase-bank-over-handling-stimulus/5163654002/
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In the suit filed on Sunday, a cybersecurity firm and event planning company accused Chase Bank of prioritizing small business borrowers who were seeking larger loan amounts rather than processing the government-sponsored loan applications on a first-come, first-served basis as advertised.
The move meant that Chase and other banks would collect larger processing fees – nearly $6 billion in total – by frontloading the queue with businesses seeking higher loans, according to the lawsuit.
The businesses seeking lower loans were deprioritized, so many didn't get the aid they were entitled to, the lawsuit filed on behalf of small businesses said.
The legal action is one in a series of lawsuits lodged by small businesses against big banks such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Bancorp citing unfair business practices and false advertising.
The loans were a part of a $349 billion emergency small business lending program meant to keep businesses afloat and staffers employed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
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"Chase concealed from the public that it was reshuffling the PPP applications it received and prioritizing the applications that would make the bank the most money," the lawsuit said.
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The proof of Chase prioritizing larger borrowers lies in numbers provided by the Small Business Administration, the lawsuit alleges. In the past three days, before the PPP loan money ran out, banks allegedly processed loan applications for $150,000 and under at twice the rate of larger loans...This would suggest that banks prioritized applications for the largest loans early on, otherwise "the percentage change of applications submitted in the last three days of the program would be consistent among all application types,"