Were you the victim of former Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC broker Clay Erickson (CRD# 1583644)? Erickson was registered with Hornor, Townsend, & Kent, Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah from 2011 to 2016, when he was terminated regarding, “Registered representative was discharged from the member firm after being suspended by FINRA from association with any member firm for a period of 10 months, and fined $15,000 pursuant to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent for failing to disclose or failing to timely disclose 35 judgments and liens totaling almost $319,000 on his Form U4.”
In September 2019, FINRA sanctioned Erickson to a $7,500 civil and administrative penalty and suspended him for nine months after he, “consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he effected unauthorized transactions, totaling $5,317,233.32, in his customers’ variable annuity accounts. The findings stated that Erickson transferred all of the funds held by 57 customers across 86 variable annuity contracts to a money market sub-account in an effort to protect customers’ account value, because he anticipated an imminent market downturn. To transfer these funds, Erickson effected the transactions without obtaining authorization from the customers, totaling the $5,317,233.32. In addition, Erickson did not possess discretionary authority over his customers’ accounts. Erickson did not receive any compensation in connection with executing the transactions. The customers’ accounts did not suffer any losses, and the customers did not incur any fees in connection with the transactions. The member firm resolved the one complaint it received from a customer regarding Erickson’s conduct.”
In October 2016, FINRA sanctioned Erickson to a $15,000 civil and administrative penalty and suspended him for 10 months after he, “consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that while registered with different FINRA-member firms, he willfully failed to disclose or failed to timely disclose on his Form U4 judgments and liens totaling almost $319,000, including civil judgments, federal tax liens, state tax liens, and state child support judgments. The findings stated that all of these judgments and liens were material information that Erickson should have reported on his Form U4.”
Erickson has been the subject of six customer complaints between 2008 and 2020, according to his CRD report. Recent complaints are regarding:
January 2020. “The plan administrator alleges on behalf of the participants in the plan that the former registered representative did not provide options relating to subaccount choices and alleges the funds remained in the money market account.” The case is currently pending. The complaint took place while Erickson was registered with Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC and is regarding variable annuities.
October 2017. “Client alleges that his subaccounts in his variable where placed in the money market subaccount without his knowledge.” The case was settled for $13,006.40. The complaint took place while Erickson was registered with Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC and is regarding variable annuities.
March 2017. “Client alleges the she was advised to transfer her investments to purchase a life insurance policy to avoid a large tax penalty. The client now believes this was not suitable.” The case was settled for $22,992.40. The complaint took place while Erickson was registered with Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC and is regarding insurance.
Pursuant to FINRA Rules, member firms are responsible for supervising a broker’s activities during the time the broker is registered with the firm. Therefore, Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC may be liable for investment or other losses suffered by Erickson’s customers.
Erez Law represents investors in the United States for claims against brokers and brokerage firms for wrongdoing. If and have experienced investment losses, please call us at 888-840-1571 or complete our contact form for a free consultation. Erez Law is a nationally recognized law firm representing individuals, trusts, corporations and institutions in claims against brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies on a contingency fee basis.
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