SF settles with firm it says misrepresented immigration services

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Photo: Paul Kuroda / Special To The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Kuroda / Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close SF settles with firm it says misrepresented immigration services 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera reached a $400,000 settlement Wednesday with Lacayo & Associates, an immigration consulting business that the city sued last year, charging that it was providing immigration-related legal services it was neither authorized nor qualified to perform.

Calling the San Francisco business a “predatory” operation charging thousands of dollars for “incompetent or nonexistent” legal work, the city sued the firm’s owners, Leonard Lacayo and his mother, Ada, in August 2016 for allegedly defrauding clients by leading them to believe that Leonard was a licensed attorney and advertising legal services to the city’s immigrant community for decades.

The firm would then charge hefty fees — sometimes thousands of dollars — for legal work that was either performed incompletely or not at all, the city’s suit claimed, putting the immigration status of potentially hundreds of people at risk. The firm’s website currently advertises only tax preparation services.

“The Lacayos enriched themselves for decades by victimizing the vulnerable,” Herrera said in a statement Wednesday. “They not only defrauded their victims, they jeopardized their immigration cases. These victims thought they were doing what the law requires. Instead, the Lacayos’ incompetent or nonexistent work squandered legitimate opportunities for these victims to obtain legal residency.”

Leonard Lacayo, however, denied any wrongdoing in an interview Wednesday, and maintains the lawsuit was a politically motivated “shakedown by the city to steal money. They only went after me because I supported Trump during the campaign.”

He denies ever having advertised or performed legal services, though he said he previously provided immigration attorneys office space in his Bernal Heights building. “I’m not a lawyer; I’m not a thief or a crook,” he said.

Half of the $400,000 settlement will go to victims and half will pay for the city’s work on the case. The settlement payment is secured by a deed of trust on the Lacayos’ San Francisco home near Mount Davidson, which Leonard Lacayo said he would have to sell in order to comply.

The city does not yet know exactly how many individuals may be entitled to a payout, but a hotline set up for the company’s alleged victims has already received “approximately 170 calls,” according to Herrera’s statement.

In addition to the cash payout, the settlement also requires the Lacayos to end any immigration-related services and remove any advertising for those services from social media and advertising materials. It also calls for them to post a sign in English and Spanish stating that they are not attorneys. The city attorney’s office will also have the ability to inspect the firm’s records to ensure it is complying with the settlement.

Predatory activity, particularly against immigrants, by individuals or businesses improperly offering legal services has gotten national attention in recent years. In a situation commonly referred to as notario fraud, problems can arise when an individual obtains a notary-public license and then uses “that license to substantiate representations that they are a ‘notario publico,’” according to the American Bar Association. In other countries, that title can mean that a person has the equivalent of a law license.

In California, AB638, introduced by Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, would prevent anyone from acting as an “immigration consultant” unless that person is an attorney or otherwise accredited under federal law. A vote on the bill is expected early next year.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa