Crypto.com Arena names Equity Prime Mortgage in lawsuit

The home arena of the Los Angeles Lakers and other sports teams is suing Equity Prime Mortgage, naming the lender in a lawsuit over unpaid licensing fees.

The Crypto.com Arena claims EPM, N2 Funding and another defendant owe $293,125 from a three-year contract to license a table in an arena lounge. The contract signed in 2020 includes four tickets to every regular season and playoff game for the Lakers, Clippers and Kings hockey team at the venue formerly known as the Staples Center.

The lawsuit filed last month in Los Angeles Superior Court was first revealed on LinkedIn by Alex Greer, a loan officer and co-owner of The Mortgage Outlet. Neither party nor attorneys in the lawsuit responded to requests for comment this week. 

It's the second sports-related breach of contract lawsuit EPM is named in. NASCAR team Jesse Iwuji Motorsports is also suing the lender for allegedly failing to pay millions of dollars in a sponsorship deal; that case is slated to go to trial in May. 

The arena's complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court includes a letter showing EPM transferred the licensing contract to N2 Funding and its president and CEO Shabi Asghar in 2021. The relationship between EPM and N2 Funding is unclear; the parties also entered into an agreement to sponsor a professional golfer in 2021. 

N2 Funding, based in Southern California, is also listed under EPM's trade names in consumer Nationwide Multistate Licensing System records. Asghar meanwhile is listed on LinkedIn as the president and CEO of Brokers First Funding since last May.

L.A. Arena Company, owner of the venue, said the defendants failed to make a contract payment in September 2022, and throughout 2023 failed to settle the claim in arbitration.

A status conference in the Los Angeles case is scheduled for July. 

EPM meanwhile is gearing for its trial versus Jesse Iwuji Motorsports at a Miami federal courthouse beginning May 20, according to court records. The racing team claims EPM in late 2022 pulled out of millions of dollars in sponsorship obligations because of a margin call during then-interest rate hikes. 

The NASCAR team, co-owned by NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, is seeking $4.1 million from the mortgage firm. Depositions in that case are due by the end of April. 

The company last year was also accused of not paying rent in two separate lawsuits in Florida and Missouri. It settled the Florida complaint, which accused it of owing $30,000 for a space the lender leased since 2019, according to state court records. The Missouri case was also marked as resolved last April. 

The Atlanta-based EPM originated $2.9 billion in mortgage volume through December, according to S&P Global data. The firm exited retail operations last year to focus on wholesale lending, HousingWire reported last year.

Founder and CEO Eddy Perez earlier this month also pledged to donate $1 million over 10 years to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Open Doors Foundation in honor of industry giant Dave Stevens, who died in January.