A California man is suing one of the world’s largest banks in relations to alleged fraudulent commercial lending practices.
Fred Gober of Playa Vista, on behalf of himself and those similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit on Sept. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Wells Fargo & Co. and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., citing violations of the California Unfair Competition Law, breach of contract, declaratory judgment, and unfair enrichment.
Gober alleges that on or about March 12, he initiated a commercial real estate loan from the defendants for the purchase of some properties. The plaintiff argues that Wells Fargo fraudulently concealed or misled plaintiff on the actual fees and markup for the loan, sending him several emails with increasing and misleading appraisal bids. Finally, when Gober looked at the breakdown of the charges, he alleges that there were hidden fees or unreasonable fees that were not disclosed or agreed upon when he first initiated the loan.
Gober is demanding a trial by jury and is suing for an undisclosed amount of monetary damages, an injunction for the defendants to stop their unlawful actions, and any other legal relief as deemed justifiable by the court. He is being represented by Christopher P. Ridout and Hannah P. Belknap of the law office of Zimmerman Reed LLP from Long Beach, Calif., the law office of Carney Bates & Pulliam, PLLC from Little Rock, Ark., and the Golomb & Honk firm of Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 2:14-cv-07120-DDP-PLA.