PENELOPE HESSEN, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHELF OF ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, APPELLANTS,
v.
METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY, A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, AND CHEMICAL BANK, A BANKING CORPORATION ORGANIZED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
This case addresses whether a class action can be certified by bondholders challenging the adequacy of redemption notice for county bonds and seeking unjust enrichment damages from the paying agent. The court reversed the trial court's denial of class certification, holding that the plaintiffs satisfied all prerequisites for class action status.
The court held that the class action should be certified because all four prerequisites for class certification were satisfied. The court found the claim was typical and not antagonistic to other class members, the material issues of fact and law were common to all, the appellant could adequately represent the class, and monetary damages do not preclude class certification.
[1] An order denying certification as a class action is appealable.
[2] A class action suit must satisfy prerequisites of numerous members, common questions of law and fact, typicality of the representative's claim, and adequate representatio…
Previewing 2 of 6 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We hold at the outset that an order denying certification as a class action is appealable.”
Establishes the appealability of class certification denials, a threshold jurisdictional issue.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn March 1981, Dade County sold $88 million in Guaranteed Entitlement Bonds at 9% interest. Appellant Hessen purchased four bonds for $100,000 through…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Class Action Prerequisites cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
This appeal is brought from an order denying the maintenance of a lawsuit as a class action.
On March 1, 1981, Dade County sold $88,000,000 in Guaranteed Entitlement Bonds in denominations of $25,000 each with interest payable each year at the rate of nine percent. The three-year bonds provided that they could be redeemed by the County on any interest payment date not earlier than March 1, 1982.
The appellant, Hessen, who resides in Vero Beach, Florida, purchased four bonds totalling $100,000 through her agent at Bankers Trust in New York.
Pursuant to the redemption provision, Dade County redeemed the bonds on March 1, 1983, and remitted the full amount of money necessary to redeem, including principal and accrued interest to Chemical Bank, the paying agent for the Bonds. Notice of the redemption was published in the Miami Review, a business and legal publication which had a circulation of approximately 6,000 in 1983, and in the Bond Buyer, a publication whose 1,650 subscribers consisted of banking and investment institutions. The appellant was one of the twenty-one percent of the bondholders who did not respond to the redemption notice. For a year Chemical Bank held and used $14,000,000 of investments and interest belonging to Hessen and 562 other bondholders.
This action was brought as a class action seeking a “declaration” that the redemption notice was inadequate, that Chemical Bank was unjustly enriched thereby, and that appellant and the other bondholders who failed to respond to the redemption notice were entitled to one year’s interest payment.
We hold at the outset that an order denying certification as a class action is appealable. Ero Properties, Inc. v. Cone, 395 So. 2d 1264 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Kohl v. Bay Colony Club Condo, 385 So. 2d 1028 (Pla. 4th DCA 1980); Cordell v. World Ins. Co., 352 So. 2d 108 (Pla. 1st DCA 1977).
The parties agree that a class suit must satisfy at least four prerequisites in order to be certified as such: (1) the members of the class are numerous; (2) the questions of law and fact are common; (3) the claim of the representative party is typical of all members of the class; and (4) the representative party can adequately represent each member of the class. Pla.R.Civ.P. 1.220(a).
The trial court ruled that the case failed to satisfy all the criteria for a class action except one — that there are “numerous members of the potential class.” We disagree and reverse.
First, there is no showing that the appellant’s claim is, or could be antagonistic to that of other members of the class. See Paulino v. Hardister, 306 So. 2d 125 (Pla. 2d DCA 1974), cert. denied, 319 So. 2d 30 (Pla.1975).
Second, because the issue is simply whether the redemption notice was adequate, the material issues of fact and law are common and the claim of the appellant is typical to all members of the class; thus there would be no need for several mini-trials. See Maner Properties, Inc. v. Siksay, 489 So. 2d 842 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986).
Third, the appellant, as representative party, can adequately represent each member of the class; there has not yet been the slightest showing to the contrary. See Maner. Finally, where the relief sought is primarily monetary damages, Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.220(b)(3) does not preclude a class suit. See Samuel v. Univ. of Pittsburgh, 538 F. 2d 991 (3d Cir.1976); Van Gemert v. Boeing Co., 259 P.Supp. 125 (S.D.N.Y.1966).
Reversed and remanded.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Gen. Dev. Corp. v. Stanislaus, 544 So. 2d 306 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…at 657. See National Lake Dev., 395 So. 2d at 592, Ero Properties, Inc. v. Cone, 395 So. 2d 1264 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), American Heritage Institutional Sec., Inc. v. Price, 379 So. 2d 420 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). Compare Hessen v. Metropolitan Dade County, 513 So. 2d 1330 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (order denying certification of suit as a class action is appealable), review denied, 525 So. 2d 879 (Fla.1988), review denied sub nom., Chemical Bank v. Hessen, 525 So. 2d 876 (Fla.1988). But see Kohl v. Bay Colony Club Condomini…
-
Penelope Hessen v. Metro. Dade Cnty., 569 So. 2d 887 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)…c to that of other members of the class,” and that “the appellant, as representative party, can adequately represent each member of the class” in an action to recover interest owed to 563 holders of certain bonds. Hessen v. Metropolitan Dade County, 513 So. 2d 1330 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), rev. denied, 525 So. 2d 876 (Fla.1988). On remand the trial court limited the class, as to the claim against Dade County, to “all former individuals, as opposed to institutional holders” of the bonds in question. By this action…
Authorities Cited
- Samuel v. Univ. OF Pittsburgh, 538 F.2d 991 (3d Cir. 1976)
- Maner Props., Inc. v. Siksay, 489 So. 2d 842 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)
- Cordell v. World Ins. Co., 352 So. 2d 108 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977)
- Kohl v. BAY Colony Club Condo., Inc., 385 So. 2d 1028 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)
- Boyette v. State, 319 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 1975)
- Fla. Steel Corp. v. Dickinson, 319 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 1975)
- City OF Miami v. Dalrymple, 395 So. 2d 1264 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)
- ERO Props., Inc. v. Cone, 395 So. 2d 1264 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)