The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California recently denied class certification in a case alleging wrongdoing by a loan servicer in connection with the Home Affordable Modification Program (“HAMP”). Plaintiff brought the putative class action after defendant foreclosed on his home, seeking to represent a nationwide class of homeowners who had received permanent modification agreements (“PMAs”) for loan modifications that defendant failed to ... Keep Reading »
Archives for November 2014
Second Circuit Affirms District Court’s Denial of Certification of Class of Investors Alleging Common Law Fraud Under New York Law
The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of class certification of a class of investors based on the appellants’ failure to satisfy the numerosity and commonality requirements of Rule 23(a). Following the collapse of the Cheyne SIV in 2007, a structured investment vehicle structured by Morgan Stanley, the appellants sought to certify a class of sophisticated institutional investors that purchased notes from the SIV between 2004 and 2007. The class action ... Keep Reading »
Division I Athlete Commences Collective Action Seeking Pay For Play
A complaint recently filed in the Southern District of Indiana alleges that the NCAA and its Division I Member Schools have jointly agreed and conspired to engage in a widespread pattern, policy, and practice of failing to pay division I student athletes in violation of the wage-and-hour provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Samantha Sackos, a former division I collegiate soccer player who played at the University of Houston, claims that she, and all ... Keep Reading »
Court Denies Motion to Remand, Rejecting Application of Home State and Local Controversy Exceptions to CAFA
The plaintiff filed a putative class action in Pennsylvania state court against two Pennsylvania defendants and one Virginia defendant, claiming that the defendants preyed on non-English speakers, illegally coercing them to enter into franchise agreements that circumvented the obligations of what were properly classified as employment relationships. The defendants removed under CAFA, and the plaintiff sought remand pursuant to CAFA’s home-state and local-controversy ... Keep Reading »
First Circuit Adopts Bright-Line Rule On CAFA Removal Trigger And Broadly Defines Other Paper
The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the thirty-day time period for removal under CAFA is triggered when the plaintiffs’ complaint or plaintiffs’ subsequent other papers provide defendants with sufficient information to easily determine that the matter is removable, even if based on information provided by or previously available to defendants, and that “other paper” is defined broadly to include correspondence from the plaintiffs or plaintiffs’ counsel ... Keep Reading »
California District Court Certifies TCPA Class Against Defaulted Defendant
The District Court for the Southern District of California certified a consumer class asserting violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by defendant Bennett Law, PLLC. Plaintiff alleged that she received numerous automated debt collection calls on her cell phone from Bennett without her consent. The law firm failed to respond to her complaint, and the court entered a default. The court then proceeded to consider plaintiff’s motion for class ... Keep Reading »
Ohio District Court Limits American Pipe Tolling Doctrine
The District Court for the Southern District of Ohio recently limited the American Pipe tolling doctrine in a fraud suit arising out of the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”). Plaintiffs’ 2011 Ohio complaint alleged that defendants’ offering materials upon which they relied more than three years earlier violated the Federal Securities Act. Defendants moved to dismiss based on the three year statute of repose contained in 15 U.S.C. §77m. Plaintiffs ... Keep Reading »
Northern District of Illinois Declines To Restrict Defense Counsel’s Communications With Putative Class Members
The Northern District of Illinois refused to restrict a defense counsel’s communications with putative class members, reasoning that the communications were not misleading or coercive. The case arose when a “romantic getaway” motel reservations desk employee claimed that all phone calls made to or from the motel’s reservations desks were intercepted, recorded, and archived without consent of either party to the calls, and that some employees listened to the calls for ... Keep Reading »