Aho v. Americredit Financial Services, Inc.

277 F.R.D. 609, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154705, 2011 WL 5401799
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedNovember 8, 2011
DocketNo. 10cv1373 DMS (BLM)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 277 F.R.D. 609 (Aho v. Americredit Financial Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aho v. Americredit Financial Services, Inc., 277 F.R.D. 609, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154705, 2011 WL 5401799 (S.D. Cal. 2011).

Opinion

SECOND AMENDED ORDER (1) GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION AND APPOINTMENT OF CLASS COUNSEL AND (2) DENYING AS MOOT DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO EXCLUDE PUTATIVE CLASS MEMBERS WITH ARBITRATION CLAUSES

DANA M. SABRAW, District Judge.

This matter has been fully briefed and comes before the Court on Plaintiffs motion for class certification and appointment of class counsel. John Hanson and Michael Lindsey appeared and argued on behalf of Plaintiff, and Peter Heeker, Anna McLean and Shannon Peterson appeared and argued on behalf of Defendant AmeriCredit Financial Services, Inc. After the Court issued its order on the motion, Defendant filed a motion for reconsideration on Plaintiffs request for statutory damages under the Rosenthal Act, and the parties submitted supplemental briefing on the numerosity requirement. Having carefully considered all of the pleadings and arguments of counsel, the Court now amends its previous order as follows:

I.

BACKGROUND

On December 14, 2003, Plaintiff Steven Aho entered into a Retail Installment Sales Contract (“RISC”) with Rancho Chrysler Jeep Dodge for the financing and purchase of a 2002 Dodge Dakota truck. (Deck of Stephen D. Aho in Supp. of Mot. for Class Cert. (“Aho Deck”), Ex. 1.) Pursuant to the RISC, Plaintiff was to make monthly payments on the loan beginning in January 2004. (Id.)

Plaintiffs truck was repossessed on August 13, 2005, after he failed to make the monthly payments required by the RISC. On August 15, 2005, Defendant AmeriCredit Financial Services, Inc. sent Plaintiff a “Notice of Our Plan to Sell Property” (“NOI”). (Aho Deck, Ex. 2.) The NOI informed Plaintiff that the truck would be sold, and the proceeds from the sale would be used to pay the outstanding balance. (Id.) It also informed Plaintiff that he would be responsible for any balance remaining if the sale proceeds did not cover the entire outstanding amount. (Id.)

On September 15, 2005, Plaintiffs truck was sold at a private sale. (Aho Deck, Ex. 3.) On September 27, 2005, Defendant sent Plaintiff a “Deficiency Calculation,” which listed a deficiency in the amount of $9,212.48. (Id.) Over the next three years, Defendant attempted to collect this deficiency from Plaintiff, and reported the deficiency to various credit reporting agencies. Plaintiff did not make any payments toward the deficiency until June 14, 2010, at which time he made a $25 payment.

Thereafter, Plaintiff filed the present action. He alleges three claims: (1) for violation of “the California Fair Debt Collection Practices Act” or “the Rosenthal Act” (Cal. Civ.Code § 1788, et seq.); (2) for violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”; Bus. & Prof.Code § 17200, et seq.); and (3) for declaratory relief. Plaintiffs theories are that Defendant’s collection activities violated the Rosenthal Act, and Defendant’s NOI failed to comply with California’s Rees-Levering Automobile Sales Finance Act (“ASFA”; Cal. Civ.Code § 2981, et seq.)

Specifically, Plaintiff claims the NOI failed to comply with Section 2983.2(a)(2) of the ASFA, because the NOI did not inform him of “all the conditions precedent” to reinstating his RISC.1 Citing Juarez v. Arcadia Financial, Ltd., 152 Cal.App.4th 889, 912, 61 Cal.Rptr.3d 382 (2007), a case that interpreted the statute’s “conditions precedent” language, Plaintiff asserts the NOI [614]*614must “inform the consumer of any amounts the consumer will have to pay to reinstate a contract [and] inform the consumer if, when and by how much those amounts may increase as a result of late fees and other charges.” The subject NOI, according to Plaintiff, informs him of only a “partial dollar amount” to reinstate, followed by other vague language: “Plus any storage charges, additional payments, and late charges that come due after the date of this notice.” The NOI did not inform Plaintiff of the specific amounts and dates of the “plus payments” that came due between the date of the NOI and the expiration of the reinstatement period. Nor did it tell him how much, or to whom, he would have to pay storage charges, late charges, and government fees.

Because the NOI fails to set forth the conditions precedent to reinstatement as required by Section 2983.2(a)(2) of the ASFA, Plaintiff claims Defendant failed to create a valid debt and is barred from collecting a deficiency. Plaintiff further claims that as a result of the disclosure violation he is entitled to remedies provided by statute, including statutory damages and restitution, citing Lewis v. Robinson Ford Sales, Inc., 156 Cal. App.4th 359, 365 n. 4, 67 Cal.Rptr.3d 347 (2007) (‘“conditional sale contract shall not be enforceable’” where disclosure requirements of ASFA are violated). See also Cal. Civ.Code § 2983 (providing restitution for statutory violation). Finally, Plaintiff claims that because the same (defective) standard-form NOI was used with all class members, the statutory violation is readily determinable by common proof on a classwide basis.

II.

DISCUSSION

Plaintiff moves to certify a class consisting of:

All persons who were sent an NOI by AmeriCredit to an address in California at any time from March 18, 2005 through May 15, 2009, following the repossession or voluntary surrender of a motor vehicle, who were assessed a deficiency balance following the disposition of the vehicle, and against whom AmeriCredit has asserted, collected, or attempted to collect any portion of the deficiency balance. The class excludes persons whose obligations have been discharged in bankruptcy, persons against whom AmeriCredit has obtained final judgments in replevin actions, and persons who received NOIs that denied them the right to reinstate.

(Mem. of P. & A. in Supp. of Mot. for Class Cert, at 4.) Plaintiff asserts the proposed class satisfies the requirements of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a), 23(b)(2) and 23(b)(3). Defendant questions whether Plaintiffs claims are typical of the claims of absent class members and whether Plaintiff and his counsel are adequate representatives for the class. Defendant also contests that Plaintiff has met the requirements of Rules 23(b)(2) and 23(b)(3).

A. Legal Standard

“The class action is ‘an exception to the usual rule that litigation is conducted by and on behalf of the individual named parties only.’ ” Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, — U.S.-, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 2550, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011) (citing Califano v. Yamasaki, 442 U.S. 682, 700-01, 99 S.Ct. 2545, 61 L.Ed.2d 176 (1979)). To qualify for the exception to individual litigation, the party seeking class certification must provide facts sufficient to satisfy the requirements of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a) and (b). Doninger v. Pacific Northwest Bell, Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
277 F.R.D. 609, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154705, 2011 WL 5401799, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aho-v-americredit-financial-services-inc-casd-2011.