The District of Colorado declined to certify a class in a case against Dollar Rent A Car where the Plaintiff alleged Dollar tricked renters into buying Loss Damage Waiver ("LDW"), supplemental liability insurance ("SLI"), and roadside assistance ("Roadsafe") (collectively "Add-On Products") that they had declined, or charged them without proper consent or contrary to disclosure requirements. Plaintiff alleged Dollar violated the Colorado Consumer Protection Act and ... Keep Reading »
Ascertainability Class Action Articles
The latest class action developments and trends in ascertainability, including news, key cases, and strategies.
Third Circuit: Strict Ascertainability Optional for Rule 23(B)(2) Class
Although not explicitly set forth in Rule 23, an essential prerequisite of any action under Rule 23 is that there must be an identifiable "class" at the moment of certification. The shorthand term commonly used to refer to this requirement is "ascertainability." Last week the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision explicitly rejecting an ascertainability requirement for Rule 23(b)(2) classes seeking only injunctive or declaratory relief. The case before the ... Keep Reading »
California District Court Certifies “Not Inherently Unascertainable” Consumer Class
In addition to the explicit Rule 23(a) requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation, an implied prerequisite to certification is that the class must be sufficiently definite: that is, the party seeking certification must demonstrate that an identifiable and ascertainable class exists. A class is ascertainable if it is defined by objective criteria and is sufficiently definite so that it is administratively feasible to determine ... Keep Reading »
Eleventh Circuit Affirms Securities Fraud Class Certification, Remands for Evidence to Rebut Presumption of Market Efficiency
In Local 703 v. Regions Financial Corp., No. 12:14168 (Aug. 6, 2014), the Eleventh Circuit reviewed the certification of a securities fraud class action brought by investors against Regions for allegedly misrepresenting its asset value and financial stability during the financial crisis, purportedly resulting in artificially high stock prices. The district court found that all class certification requirements had been met, and that the investors had introduced ... Keep Reading »
Ninth Circuit Finds Self-Identification By Class Members Does Not Satisfy Ascertainability Under Rule 23
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a district court’s denial of class certification where a plaintiff failed to propose a plan to ascertain class members and therefore did not satisfy the manageability requirement of Rule 23(b)(3). Plaintiffs alleged that the defendants, a parking company and the City of Laguna Beach, California, had violated the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”) by improperly printing the expiration dates of credit ... Keep Reading »
Ascertainability Issues Preclude Certification of a Class of Individuals Alleging Violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan denied plaintiffs’ motion for class certification citing plaintiffs’ failure to satisfy Rule 23’s ascertainability, commonality, typicality, and predominance requirements. The defendants, a debt collection agency and law firm, had filed state court complaints on behalf of medical providers in order to collect delinquent debts. The state court complaints included an exhibit listing providers who had allegedly ... Keep Reading »
Lack Of Predominance, Superiority, And Ascertainability Foreclose Mortgagors’ Proposed Class Action Alleging Kickbacks In Violation Of RESPA
The Central District of California denied certification of a putative nationwide class of mortgagors, holding that numerous individualized issues precludeda finding of predominance, superiority, or ascertainability. In particular, the plaintiffs alleged that defendant’s subsidiary escrow companies violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act’s kickback prohibition by accepting payments from delivery companies, such as UPS, FedEx, and OnTrac, in exchange for ... Keep Reading »
California District Court Denies Certification of Putative Class of Plaintiffs Alleging Violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act
The U.S. District court for the Northern District of California denied plaintiffs’ motion for class certification because the proposed class did not satisfy Rule 23’s ascertainability and predominance requirements. Plaintiffs’ class action complaint alleged that Hulu violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by disclosing video selections and “personally identifiable information” to third parties such as Facebook. At the class certification hearing, the plaintiffs ... Keep Reading »
West Virginia District Court Certifies Rule 23(b)(3) Class Of Plaintiffs Alleging Violations Of Fair Credit Reporting Act Section 1681(g)
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia certified a Rule 23(b)(3) class, holding that the class was sufficiently ascertainable and satisfied the requirements of Rule 23(b)(3). Plaintiff’s class action complaint alleged that Quicken Loans violated section 1681g(g) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to provide credit score disclosures “as soon as reasonably practicable” after obtaining the plaintiff consumer’s credit report. Plaintiff ... Keep Reading »