Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) agent-fee litigation is one of several emerging risks that the Jones Walker PPP Bank Litigation and Regulatory Task Force has been following since the implementation of the program. Very early on in the PPP loan process, our team saw that this area of litigation would be one that banks would face. Now, we are seeing the first major court decision on this issue, and it deals a victory to lenders.

In Sport & Wheat, a federal district court in Florida held that the CARES Act and its implementing regulations do not require lenders to pay a portion of the loan processing fees they receive from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to agents that helped borrowers obtain PPP loans. No. 20-05425 (N.D. Fla. filed April 26, 2020). The court issued its opinion on August 17, in response to a motion to dismiss filed by the defendant lenders that same day. Continue reading >