Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP Files Class Action Suit against Municipal Mortgage & Equity L.L.C.

  
    
  
  
    
      Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (“Coughlin 
      Stoia”) (http://www.csgrr.com/cases/munimae/) 
      today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United 
      States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of 
      purchasers of Municipal Mortgage & Equity L.L.C. (“MuniMae” 
      or the “Company”) 
      (NYSE:MMA) common stock during the period between May 3, 2004 and 
      January 28, 2008 (the “Class Period”).
    
    
      If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later 
      than March 31, 2008. If you wish to discuss this action or have any 
      questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please 
      contact plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel H. Rudman 
      or David A. Rosenfeld of Coughlin Stoia at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, 
      or via e-mail at [e-mail]. If 
      you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as 
      filed or join this class action online at http://www.csgrr.com/cases/munimae/. 
      Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead 
      plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing 
      and remain an absent class member.
    
    
      The complaint charges MuniMae and certain of its officers and directors 
      with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. MuniMae and its 
      subsidiaries arrange debt and equity financing for developers and owners 
      of real estate and clean energy projects. The Company also provides 
      investment management and advisory services for institutional investors.
    
    
      According to the complaint, during the Class Period, defendants issued 
      materially false and misleading statements that misrepresented and 
      failed to disclose: (i) that MuniMae was materially overstating its 
      financial performance by failing to properly account for its interests 
      in certain entities; (ii) that MuniMae was: (a) failing to timely 
      write-down the fair value of its “held-for-sale” 
      loans, bonds, derivatives, mortgage servicing rights and guarantee 
      obligations; and (b) materially overstating the fair value of these 
      assets; (iii) that the Company lacked adequate internal controls and was 
      therefore unable to ascertain its true financial condition; (iv) that 
      MuniMae’s Class Period financial statements 
      were materially false and misleading when issued and not prepared in 
      accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”); 
      and (v) that the Company was performing poorly and would soon be forced 
      to cut its dividend.
    
    
      On January 28, 2008, the Company announced that it was reducing its 
      dividend distribution from $0.5250 to $0.33 per share. The Company also 
      admitted that its previously issued financial results and financial 
      statements materially overstated the Company’s 
      financial performance and that the Company’s 
      financial statements were not prepared in accordance with GAAP. 
      Specifically, the Company stated that it would likely be restating its 
      financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 
      2004. Moreover, the Company would likely lose its eligibility of trading 
      on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) 
      due to the fact that it would not be filing its Annual Report on Form 
      10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 by the deadline imposed by the 
      NYSE. In response to these announcements, the price of MuniMae stock 
      dropped from $17.20 per share to $9.19 per share on extremely heavy 
      trading volume.
    
    
      On January 29, 2008, the Company filed its Form 8-K with the Securities 
      and Exchange Commission. The Form 8-K provided more information on the 
      Company’s announcement regarding the 
      restatement of its financial results. Upon this news, the price of 
      MuniMae’s stock fell to $7.13 per share.
    
    
      Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of 
      MuniMae common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). 
      The plaintiff is represented by Coughlin Stoia, which has expertise in 
      prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions 
      involving financial fraud.
    
    
      Coughlin Stoia, a 190-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San 
      Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., 
      Philadelphia and Atlanta, is active in major litigations pending in 
      federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a 
      leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, 
      consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. 
      The Coughlin Stoia Web site (http://www.csgrr.com) 
      has more information about the firm.