McMahon Books, Inc. v. Willow Grove Associates

108 F.R.D. 32, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17382
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 30, 1985
DocketCiv. A. No. 84-3861
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 108 F.R.D. 32 (McMahon Books, Inc. v. Willow Grove Associates) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McMahon Books, Inc. v. Willow Grove Associates, 108 F.R.D. 32, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17382 (E.D. Pa. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

VanARTSDALEN, District Judge.

The plaintiffs have moved for class certification in this action involving a dispute between the tenants of the Willow Grove Mall and the owners and operators of the mall. The representative plaintiffs have sued to recover for alleged overcharges on pro-rata tax, maintenance and utility billings incidental to their leasing space at the mall and for other damages, including treble damages under the RICO statute,1 stemming from alleged misrepresentations by the mall owners.

McMahon Books, Inc. (McMahon) leased space in the Willow Grove Mall to operate a bookstore, but it is no longer in business at that mall. Gem Electronics Distributors, Inc. (Gem), a retail sales outlet, currently leases space in the Willow Grove Mall.

The complaint alleges that the defendants developed a fraudulent scheme to rent space in the mall. Defendants allegedly carried out this scheme by providing prospective tenants with a written standardized Confirmation of Business Terms (CBT) that contained misrepresentations regarding the estimated taxes, maintenance charges and utility charges that would be assessed to the tenants. In addition to the representations in the CBT, plaintiffs allege that defendants, apparently through oral statements to prospective tenants, also misrepresented the degree to which space [34]*34in the mall would be leased and/or the degree to which the mall would be leased with tenants open for business on the mall’s opening date. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants represented that all three major department stores would be open on the mail’s opening date, whereas one of those stores, Abraham & Strauss, was not open on that date. Finally, plaintiffs allege that defendants overstated the sales volume that prospective tenants could reasonably anticipate by basing the estimates on a substantially fully leased mall rather than an underleased mall.

Plaintiffs seek damages based on six separate counts in their Fourth Amended Complaint: (1) the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c) presumably for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c); (2) common law fraud; (3) negligent misrepresentation; (4) strict liability for innocent misrepresentation; (5) breach of contract; and (6) RICO, 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c), for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(a). Plaintiffs claim that they have been and continue to be overcharged for minimum rental fees, utilities, common area maintenance and taxes. They seek declaratory, injunctive and monetary relief.

Plaintiffs have moved for class certification. They request that the court certify a plaintiff class consisting of “[a]ll tenants who received an unrevised Confirmation of Business Terms prior to executing their lease with the Willow Grove Mall.” Plaintiffs’ Reply Brief at 45.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 governs class actions in federal court. An action may be maintained as a class action if all four prerequisites of Rule 23(a) are satisfied and the court finds any one of the three subparagraphs of Rule 23(b) applicable. Rule 23(a) provides:

Prerequisites to a Class Action. One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

Rule 23(a)’s prerequisites are commonly referred to as: (1) numerosity; (2) commonality; (3) typicality; and (4) adequacy of representation. *

Plaintiffs have moved for certification of a class pursuant to Rule 23(b)(1), 23(b)(2) and 23(b)(3), but they primarily rely on 23(b)(3). Rule 23(b)(3) provides that an action may be maintained as a class action if the prerequisites of subdivision (a) are satisfied and “the court finds that the questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any question affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy.” The party seeking class certification bears the burden of establishing that certification of a class is appropriate. Fickinger v. C.I. Planning Corp., 103 F.R.D. 529, 531 (E.D. Pa.1984).

I find that the plaintiffs have established that class certification is appropriate. The relevant facts will be discussed within the framework of the various subdivisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

Plaintiffs are required under Rule 23(a)(1) to establish that “the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable.” Although courts have generally found the numerosity requirement satisfied where the class exceeds 100, the number of class members is not the sole determinative factor in considering whether the class is so numerous that joinder is impracticable. Fox v. Prudent Resources Trust, 69 F.R.D. 74, 78 (E.D.Pa.1975).

In this case, plaintiffs estimate there are approximately 125 class plaintiffs.2 Despite the relatively large number of putative class members, it does not inevitably follow that joinder is impracticable. [35]*35All of the putative class members at one time leased space at the mall. Presumably many of them are still tenants at the mall. The mall tenants have formed a tenants’ association. McMahon Deposition at 105; Fine Deposition at 59-60. The mall is located in this district and, therefore, all the putative class members conduct business— or formerly conducted business — in this district. The mere number of putative plaintiffs does not establish that joinder would be impossible or impractical. There would appear to be no difficulty in identifying, locating and communicating with all putative plaintiffs. The putative plaintiffs are readily identifiable by their association with the mall, and the tenants’ association provides a convenient vehicle for coordinating joinder. Litigation in this district pursuant to joinder would not appear to create any great hardship for the putative plaintiffs who already conduct business in this district and who may want to join in this litigation.

Although plaintiffs estimate 125 potential class members, there is no evidence as to the number of tenants who desire to assert any claim against the defendants. At best, the evidence supports the inference that anywhere from thirty to fifty tenants who attended the tenants’ association meetings are interested in proceeding against defendants. See Fine Deposition at 59-60.

All potential class members who want to join could seek leave to join by motion. Such individual joinder would be neither difficult nor impossible.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
108 F.R.D. 32, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17382, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcmahon-books-inc-v-willow-grove-associates-paed-1985.