Visendi v. Bank of America, No. 13-16747 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this Case137 named plaintiffs filed suit against 25 financial institutions alleging, among other things, that the institutions' deceptive mortgage lending and securitization practices decreased the value of their homes, impaired their credit scores, and compromised their privacy. The court concluded that the action was properly removed from state court to federal court because more than 100 named plaintiffs proposed a joint trial and because the other prerequisites of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), Pub. L. No. 109-2, 119 Stat. 4, were satisfied. However, the court reversed and remanded to the district court to dismiss without prejudice the claims of all plaintiffs but the first named plaintiff because, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20(a), the First Amended Complaint did not present common questions of law.
Court Description: Class Action Fairness Act / Removal. The panel reversed the district court’s order remanding the case to state court after it was removed to federal court under the mass action provisions of the Class Action Fairness Act. The panel held that because more than 100 named plaintiffs proposed a joint trial, and because the Class Action Fairness Act’s (“CAFA”) other prerequisites were satisfied, this action was properly removed from state to federal court. The panel declined to consider plaintiffs’ argument concerning CAFA’s “local controversy” exception because plaintiffs failed to raise it before the district court, and the exception is not jurisdictional. Under the permissive joinder provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20(a), the panel held that the First Amended Complaint did not present common questions of law and fact, and remanded with instructions to dismiss without prejudice the claims of all plaintiffs but the first named plaintiff.
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