Chandler v. Southwest Jeep-Eagle, Inc.

162 F.R.D. 302, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8212, 1995 WL 382560
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 8, 1995
DocketNo. 94 C 6171
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 162 F.R.D. 302 (Chandler v. Southwest Jeep-Eagle, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chandler v. Southwest Jeep-Eagle, Inc., 162 F.R.D. 302, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8212, 1995 WL 382560 (N.D. Ill. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CASTILLO, District Judge.

Plaintiff Raymond Chandler (“Chandler”) sues defendants Southwest Jeep-Eagle, Inc. (“Southwest”) and Calumet National Bank (“Calumet”) seeking redress for alleged misrepresentations and unfair and deceptive practices in connection with Southwest’s standard retail installment contract. Counts I and II of the complaint, the class claims, are alleged only against Southwest. Count I alleges that Southwest made certain misrepresentations in its retail installment contracts in violation of the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq. (“TILA”). Count II alleges that the misrepresentations amounted to deceptive practices under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, 815 ILCS 505/1 et seq. (“Consumer Fraud Act”). Counts III through VI are all claims brought by Chandler alone against Southwest and Calumet, the financial institution that financed the purchase. Counts III and IV, which this opinion does not address, allege that Southwest sold Chandler an un-merchantable motor vehicle, in violation of the Illinois Uniform Commercial Code [count III] and the Magnuson-Moss Consumer Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2310(d) [count IV]. Count V alleges that Southwest breached an express warranty or service contract by failing to make necessary repairs to Chandler’s vehicle. Count VI alleges that Southwest engaged in unfair and deceptive practices, in violation of the Consumer Fraud Act, by selling Chandler a defective car and then attempting to evade responsibility for the vehicle’s condition through fraudulent means.

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, Chandler moves for class certification with respect to counts I and II. Specifically, Chandler proposes that the class be defined as all persons who satisfy each of the following four criteria:

(i) they purchased a service contract or extended warranty from Southwest;
(ii) their transaction was financed by a retail installment contract;
[305]*305(iii) their transaction was documented as a consumer transaction (i.e., TILA disclosures were made); and
(iv) the retail installment contract states that an amount was paid to a third party on account of an extended warranty or service contract that is other than the amount actually collected by the third party.

Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification at 4.

With respect to count I, the TILA claim, the proposed class includes anyone whose retail installment contract is dated on or after October 12, 1993, one year prior to the date Chandler filed his original complaint. With respect to count II, the Consumer Fraud Act claim, the proposed class includes anyone whose retail installment contract was outstanding on or after October 12, 1991, three years prior to the date Chandler filed his original complaint. The different temporal parameters of the two classes is a product of the different statutes of limitation for TILA and the Consumer Fraud Act. A TILA action must be filed within one year of the contract date, 15 U.S.C. § 1640(e), while the Consumer Fraud Act has a three-year statute of limitations, 815 ILCS SOS/10a(e).1

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), Southwest2 moves to dismiss count V for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Additionally, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b), Southwest moves to dismiss count VI for failure to plead the circumstances constituting fraud with particularity.

BACKGROUND3

Southwest operates an automobile dealership. Calumet is a nationally chartered bank. On May 23,1994, Chandler purchased from Southwest a used Chrysler automobile to be used for personal, family and household purposes. At the time he purchased the car, Chandler signed Southwest’s standard motor vehicle retail installment sales contract, which was subsequently assigned to Calumet.4 Chandler also informed Southwest that he wished to purchase a full warranty from Chrysler that would be transferrable to another authorized Chrysler dealership for the purpose of repairs.5 Southwest informed Chandler that the price for a full warranty was $1,780.40 and provided Chandler with its standard service contract,6 on which the fee amount was listed under the subheading [306]*306“Amounts Paid to Others for You,” along with taxes, insurance premiums, and license, title, registration and filing fees, none of which were negotiable. Chandler signed the contract and paid the $1,780.40 fee to Southwest.

Chandler alleges, however, that Southwest only transferred a small portion of the $1,780.40 to Chrysler, retaining the balance, and that the fee amount was actually unilaterally determined by Southwest and therefore negotiable. Chandler charges that the method by which the cost was listed on the contract is misleading, unfair and deceptive. He alleges that Southwest intended him and other purchasers to rely on the misleading, unfair and deceptive representation and thus not attempt to negotiate the price of the service contract, allowing Southwest routinely to overcharge customers. He further alleges that had he known that the cost of the service contract was negotiable, neither he nor the average consumer would have paid as much.

Shortly after Chandler purchased his vehicle, it developed substantial mechanical problems. Chandler brought the car back to Southwest numerous times for engine work and repairs to the radiator, tachometer, oil pressure and temperature gauges, air condenser, power steering, transmission, front wheel drive, alignment, internal computers and radio. Southwest, which kept the vehicle for lengthy periods of time, allegedly in order to complete the repairs, purportedly performed some repairs, but most of the problems remained uncorrected. Southwest refused Chandler’s request to view the defective auto parts that Southwest allegedly had replaced.

After becoming frustrated with Southwest’s inability to make the necessary repairs, Chandler took the vehicle to another authorized Chrysler dealer and requested service under the Chrysler service contract that he had purchased through Southwest. The dealer informed Chandler that the Chrysler warranty computer showed no record of Chandler’s service contract, and refused to perform the necessary repairs. The dealer also informed Chandler that the vehicle model that Chandler had purchased from Southwest was the subject of several outstanding manufacturer’s recalls with respect to which Southwest had not made repairs prior to selling the vehicle to Chandler. Chandler returned to Southwest for several more unsuccessful attempts to have the vehicle repaired.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
162 F.R.D. 302, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8212, 1995 WL 382560, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chandler-v-southwest-jeep-eagle-inc-ilnd-1995.