FINRA Denies Expungement Request of Ex-Broker Kathleen J. Tarr

According to reports, former independent broker Kathleen J. Tarr’s bid to expunge a customer’s complaint about allegedly unsuitable sales of privately-traded REIT sales from her regulatory record was denied last week.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority published the decision on Monday. According to those same reports, Tarr has a long history of customer complaints – 42 (forty-two) to be exact – over her 12-year career at three firms.

The customer, who allegedly settled the real estate investment trust case for $25,000 in December, according to Central Registration Depository (CRD) records, persisted in opposing Tarr’s expungement bid.

Tarr’s FINRA Broker Report shows 11 of the 42 listed cases were settled or resulted in arbitration awards against her, one was closed with no action, 15 were withdrawn or denied, and 11 cases are pending, according to BrokerCheck.

A well-publicized arbitration panel’s decision in 2014 to expunge a complaint from Tarr’s record was vacated at the request of FINRA by a federal district court and a California appeals court last year. FINRA focused on fairness issues involving arbitrators’ refusal to take testimony from the customer rather than on the broker’s record.

Tarr began her career in 2000 with Credit Suisse First Boston, but her records show no formal customer complaints until 2010.  She was discharged from Royal Alliance in Lafayette, CA in July of that year for violating firm policy requiring pre-approval of variable annuity transactions, according to BrokerCheck. 

The foregoing information, which is all publicly available, is being provided by The White Law Group.

The White Law Group is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, and investor protection law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Vero Beach, Florida.  For more information on the firm and its representation of investors, visit https://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.