David Lerner Banned by Finra for Misleading on REITs
This article is for subscribers only.
David Lerner was banned from the securities industry for a year and his firm ordered to pay $12 million for misleading investors into buying real estate investment trusts, regulators said.
Lerner, whose David Lerner Associates Inc. has underwritten about $7 billion of its Apple REITs, was also fined $250,000, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said today in a statement. The Syosset, New York-based brokerage, known for its founder’s “Take a tip from Poppy” advertising slogan, persuaded elderly customers to invest by exaggerating the performance of older Apple REITs, Wall Street’s self-funded regulator said.