Small Business Says Bank of America Violated CARES Act, Refused Loans to Non-Customers

BALTIMORE — A federal class action accuses Bank of America of violating the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act by refusing to accept loan applications for small businesses unless they were active borrowers with the bank as of February.

The April 3 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland says, “nothing in the CARES Act authorizes or permits BOA to pick and choose who would gain access to, or benefit from, the federally backed lending program.”

Plaintiff Profiles Inc., a Baltimore public relations firm, contends that BOA has chosen “privileged discriminatory policies driven …