O'Donovan v. CashCall, Inc.

278 F.R.D. 479, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131868, 2011 WL 5573845
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedNovember 15, 2011
DocketNo. C 08-03174 MEJ
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 278 F.R.D. 479 (O'Donovan v. CashCall, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Donovan v. CashCall, Inc., 278 F.R.D. 479, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131868, 2011 WL 5573845 (N.D. Cal. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

MARIA-ELENA JAMES, United States Chief Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs Krista O’Donovan, Eduardo De La Torre, and Lori Saysourivong’s (collectively “Plaintiffs”) Motion for Class Certification. Dkt. No. 60. After carefully considering the parties’ arguments, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Plaintiffs’ Motion, as set forth below.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

The following factual allegations are taken from Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amended Class Action Complaint (“FAC”), filed on February 25,2010. Dkt. No. 54.

Defendant CashCall is a California corporation engaged in the business of making unsecured personal loans to consumers at high interest rates. Id. ¶¶ 4,17,18.

In October 2005, Plaintiff Krista O’Donovan borrowed $5,075 from CashCall. Id. ¶ 20. Pursuant to the Promissory Note and Disclosure Statement that Ms. O’Donovan executed, the loan was based on an annual percentage rate of interest (“APR”) of 59.83%, with the total payments to amortize the debt listed as $30,161.86, or six times the principal. Id.1 According to O’Donovan, CashCall made this loan despite it being “beyond her financial ability to repay [it] in the time and manner provided in the Cash-Call Promissory Note and Disclosure Statement.” Id. ¶ 21. Particularly, she alleges that “CashCall did not conduct any assessment of [her] employment, earnings capacity, her job security, her monthly expenses or her outstanding debt when it approved her for the loan.” Id. ¶23. She avers that based on “the monthly expenses she was required to pay in order to care for her family and maintain their basic living conditions, [she] could not afford her CashCall loan payment each month.” Id. ¶ 22.

In February 2006, Plaintiff Eduardo De La Torre borrowed $2,600 from CashCall with an APR of approximately 98%. Id. ¶ 24. The stated total payments required to amortize the debt was over $9,000. Id. De La Torre alleges that CashCall made this loan despite his financial inability to repay it in the time and manner provided in the Cash-Call Promissory Note and Disclosure Statement. Id. ¶ 25. Particularly, at the time he received the loan from CashCall, De La Torre was a college student whose income consisted of wages earned from part-time work and student loans and his monthly living expenses exceeded his income. Id. ¶¶ 25, 26. He alleges that “[p]aying CashCall back for the loan in the time and manner required by CashCall was especially difficult because repayment would require several years of regular payments, which was not realistic given De La Torre’s status as a student without significant earned income.” Id. ¶ 26. De La Torre also avers that CashCall did not conduct any assessment of his employment, earning capacity, monthly expenses, or outstanding debt when it approved him for the loan. Id. ¶ 27.

In May 2006, Plaintiff Lori Saysourivong executed a loan for $2,525 from CashCall at an APR of 99.07%, according to CashCall’s Promissory Note and Disclosure Statement. Id. ¶ 28. The stated total payments to amortize the debt was $9,149.51. Id. Saysouri-vong alleges that CashCall made this loan despite her financial inability to repay it in the time and manner set forth in the Promis[485]*485sory Note and Disclosure Statement. Id. ¶ 29. She alleges that CashCall did not conduct any assessment of her earning capacity, her job security, her monthly expenses, or her outstanding debt when it approved her for the loan. Id. ¶31. In particular, she alleges that at the time she took out the loan from CashCall, she had essential monthly expenses that exceeded her guaranteed income, including credit card debt, commuting expenses, rent, and monthly living expenses. Id. ¶29. Additionally, Saysourivong alleges that repaying the loan according to the schedule in the Promissory Note and Disclosure Statement was especially difficult because it required several years of regular payments, which was not feasible because of her expenses and her husband’s inconsistent income. Id. ¶ 30.

Pursuant to California Civil Code section 1781 and Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit as a class action on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated as members of a proposed class. Id. ¶ 32. Plaintiffs define the putative class as, “All individuals who borrowed money from CashCall, Inc., for personal, family, or household use at any time from June 30, 2004 to the present.” Id. On behalf of themselves and the putative class, Plaintiffs assert claims for: (1) violation of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (“EFTA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1693 et seq., and Federal Reserve Regulation E (“Regulation E”), 12 C.F.R. § 205 et seq.; (2) violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), Cal. Civ.Code § 1750 et seq.; (3) violation of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Cal. Civ.Code § 1788 et seq.; (4) unlawful business practices in violation of California Business & Professions Code section 17200; (5) unlawful and unfair business practices in violation of Business & Professions Code section 17200; and (6) unlawful, fraudulent, and unfair business practices in violation of Business & Professions Code section 17200. Id. at 8-18.

With respect to Plaintiffs’ first claim for violation of the EFTA and Regulation E, Plaintiffs allege that the Promissory Note and Disclosure Statements associated with Plaintiffs’ and the putative class members’ loans “uniformly specify a particular day of the month when CashCall is allowed to initiate and affect electronic fund transfers from customer accounts to collect installment payments and other amounts from Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff Class.” Id. ¶43. They allege that CashCall has engaged “in the business practice of initiating and effecting electronic funds transfers from customer accounts to collect payments on days of the month other than those agreed to and specified in the Promissory Note and Disclosure Statement.” Id. ¶ 44. Particularly, Plaintiffs allege that when CashCall fails to collect a loan installment payment or other charge through an electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) on the agreed-upon day, it thereafter attempts to collect the installment payment and other charges on later days during the same installment cycle that were not agreed to or authorized by the customer, thereby violating the EFTA, 15 U.S.C. § 1693e(a), and Regulation E. Id. ¶¶ 44-47.

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Bluebook (online)
278 F.R.D. 479, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131868, 2011 WL 5573845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odonovan-v-cashcall-inc-cand-2011.