Maor v. Dollar Thrifty Auto. Grp., Inc.

303 F. Supp. 3d 1320
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 18, 2017
DocketCase No. 15–22959–CIV–MARTINEZ–GOODMAN
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 303 F. Supp. 3d 1320 (Maor v. Dollar Thrifty Auto. Grp., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Maor v. Dollar Thrifty Auto. Grp., Inc., 303 F. Supp. 3d 1320 (S.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

JOSE E. MARTINEZ, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Defendants Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. d/b/a Dollar Rent A Car, Dollar Rent A Car, Inc., and DTG Operations, Inc.'s (collectively "Dollar") Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Class Action Complaint for Breach of Contract, Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, and Violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act ("FDUTPA") [ECF No. 21]. Dollar, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), seeks dismissal of all Plaintiff Marshall Maor's claims.

Specifically, Dollar presents several arguments in the motion: (1) Maor has not alleged a breach of a contract claim, because the contract terms do not require the toll administrative fee to be related to Dollar's underlying toll administrative costs; (2) the voluntary payment doctrine bars Maor's breach of contract claim; (3) Florida law does not recognize a claim for breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing without a properly pleaded breach of contract claim; (4) Florida law does not recognize a claim for breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing if the claimed covenant would vary the express terms of a contract; and (5) the FDUTPA claim fails because the fees were fully disclosed, and thus, neither deceptive nor unfair. [See id. ].

For the reasons explained below, this Court denies Dollar's Motion to Dismiss.

I. Background

This case arises out of Dollar Rent-A-Car's rental contract provision that provides for charging certain customers toll costs and an administrative fee per use of an electronic toll booth. [ECF No. 1].1 In *13232008, Dollar implemented Electronic Toll Collection ("ETC") for its rental cars, allowing customers to use cashless toll systems. [See id. ¶ 2]. Dollar's standard rental contract contains an express term requiring customers who decline a toll package to pay for any electronic tolls incurred, plus an administrative fee of $15 per occurrence.2 [See id. ¶¶ 2-3]. The specific provision states:

All toll fines (including the use of all cashless toll roads without the purchase of the toll By-pass option) are subject to an admin fee of $15 per violation/occurrence. You authorize us to release your billing/rental information to PlatePass, LLC and ATS Processing Services, LLC to process and bill to your credit card or billing account for the above-mentioned charges.

[Id. ¶ 3]. Dollar collects payment for these charges through a third party, and at the time of collection, the third party provides a Frequently Asked Questions document that describes why the customer was charged an administration fee: "[p]er your rental agreement, an administration fee was charged to cover the costs of processing your citation on behalf of the Rental Car Company." [See id. ¶¶ 3, 48]. Dollar's actual costs to process electronic toll collection are only a fraction of the administrative fees charged to customers, and Dollar's fees are three times that of the next most expensive competitor. [See id. ¶¶ 4, 8, 10, 37-38].

Plaintiff Marshall Maor is a citizen of New York. While travelling in Florida, Maor contracted with Dollar, declined a toll package, rented a vehicle, and used an electronic toll booth. [Id. ¶ 45]. Dollar subsequently sent Maor a "Dollar Rent A Car Toll Charge Notice[,]" instructing Maor that he was subject to a toll charge of $1.37 and an administrative fee of $15.00. [Id. ¶ 47]. Maor paid the fee. [Id. ¶ 50].

Maor brings this class action on behalf of himself and those similarly situated: "All Dollar customers who rented (or will rent) Dollar vehicles for pick up in Florida and who paid (or will pay) Dollar's $15 or $25 per toll administration fee commencing January 1, 2008." [Id. ¶ 51]. The Complaint contains three claims, all brought under Florida law. Maor alleges that Dollar breached the express terms of its contract with customers by charging an administrative fee "to cover the costs of processing" toll citations, while only using a fraction of the fee to cover such costs. [Id. ¶ 63]. Furthermore, Maor alleges that Dollar breached an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing to which the contract was subject, because Dollar charged customers an administrative fee that was not based on covering the costs of processing toll citations. [Id. ¶¶ 71-72]. Finally, Maor alleges that Dollar misrepresented the nature and purpose of the administrative fee, deceiving customers to their detriment, such that the conduct was unconscionable, deceptive, or unfair and violated the FDUTPA. [Id. ¶¶ 67-68].

II. Motion to Dismiss

"When considering a motion to dismiss, all facts set forth in the plaintiff's complaint 'are to be accepted as true and the court limits its consideration to the pleadings and exhibits attached thereto.' " Grossman v. Nationsbank, N.A. , 225 F.3d 1228, 1231 (11th Cir. 2000) (quoting *1324Lopez v. First Union Nat'l Bank of Fla. , 129 F.3d 1186, 1189 (11th Cir. 1997) ). " Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only 'a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,' in order to 'give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.' " Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 ; Conley v. Gibson , 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) ).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
303 F. Supp. 3d 1320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maor-v-dollar-thrifty-auto-grp-inc-flsd-2017.