Eugene Garner: $650K Complaint Against David Lerner Rep

Lawrenceville, New Jersey stockbroker Eugene Garner (CRD# 4892619) has received an investor complaint alleging more than half a million dollars in damages. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that he is a broker affiliated with David Lerner Associates and an investment adviser affiliated with Spirit of America Management Corporation.

Mr. Garner’s BrokerCheck report discloses one pending investor complaint. Filed in January 2022, the complaint alleges he made misrepresentations and omissions in connection with recommendations to hold investments in Energy 11, Energy 12, and SOAEX. The pending complaint alleges $650,000 in damages. 

FINRA rules forbid brokers from making investment recommendations that are unsuitable for an investor, and from making misrepresentations about an investment that might lead a customer to make unsuitable transactions. Unsuitable investments and transactions are understood as those not based in a “firm understanding of both the product and the customer,” according to FINRA Rule 2111. That rule requires brokers to conduct “reasonable diligence” to determine whether investments are suitable for a customer’s background and objectives. They must ensure that the recommendation is at least suitable for some investors; that it is suitable for the specific customer they are dealing with; and that, if they are recommending a series of transactions to a customer over whose account they have actual or de facto control, the transactions are suitable when taken together as well as when viewed in isolation.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Eugene Garner holds 17 years of securities industry experience. He is registered as a stockbroker with David Lerner Associates in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and as an investment adviser with Spirit of America Management Corporation in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and Syosset, New York. He has no previous registrations. His credentials include the passage of four securities industry qualifying exams: the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, or Series 65; the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; and the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7. He holds 23 state securities licenses. (Information current as of April 1, 2022.)

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