United States ex rel. Nunez-Unda v. Lafayette RE Management et al.

Law Office of Max Rodriguez PLLC, along with Pollock Cohen LLP, represented whistleblower Jesus Nunez-Unda in his qui tam suit under the False Claims Act. The Department of Justice intervened in the case and settled with the defendants for $680,000.

Our client's complaint alleged that Lafayette, one of the nation's largest single-family residential real estate asset managers, another related entity, and Mr. Adrien committed fraud by improperly securing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the United States Small Business Administration.

In particular, these defendants falsely certified that their PPP loans were necessary to support ongoing operations due to the economic uncertainty of COVID. But these businesses — single-family real estate asset management, rental, and property management — experienced a boom. For safety and space, renters were fleeing multi-family housing and seeking single-family housing. Because they used analytics tools that allowed them to understand performance in real time, they understood that these trends would benefit rather than hurt their business.

Although PPP fraud has been a high priority for DOJ in the last several years, most cases have turned on simpler misrepresentations like fake employees or concealed affiliates. This is the first PPP fraud case resolved based on an applicant’s fraudulent certification that their PPP loan was necessary to support ongoing operations during the pandemic due to economic uncertainty.

You can read more about the case in the linked complaint and articles discussing the case available to the right.