SIDNEY L. SYNA, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS A MEMBER OF THE CLASS OF CREDIT CARD HOLDERS OF SHELL OIL COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
SHELL OIL COMPANY, A DELAWARE CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1970-11-17
No. 70-23
' Before PEARSON, C. J., HENDRY, J., and NATHAN, RAYMOND G., Associate Judge.
241 So. 2d 458 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1970) Positive Treatment
Cited by 14 cases

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.


Holding

The court held that the trial court correctly dismissed the class action because the defendant's actions in cancelling the account and removing disputed charges eliminated any present controversy, thus negating the plaintiff's standing to represent a class.


Headnotes

[1] A class action may not proceed when the named plaintiff's individual claim has been rendered moot.

[2] A defendant may moot a plaintiff's claim by unilaterally satisfying the plaintiff's demand.

Previewing 2 of 4 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

Facts & Procedural History

A credit card holder sued Shell Oil Company, alleging illegal finance charges on his account and seeking to represent a class of similarly affected cu…

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.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

At the time this action was instituted Sidney L. Syna, plaintiff-appellant, possessed a valid credit card account with Shell Oil Company, the defendant-appellee. Prior to the inception of this action, Syna received a statement dated July 3, 1969, reciting that the total amount due on his account was $33.21. The statement of account bore directions to see an accompanying statement for important information. That accompanying statement began with the salutation: “Dear Shell Credit Car Holder: The following disclosures in connection with your Shell account are made pursuant to the Federal Truth-in-Lending Act.” It went on to announce that a late payment finance charge of 1)4% per month or 18% per year (except for 1% per month or 12% per year in Hawaii) would be made on past due accounts (unpaid for 55 days from the original billing date). Appellant received other statements dated August 4, September 3, and October 3, 1969. The minimum amount due according to the October 3rd statement ($165.71) included $1.28 and $1.76 finance charges on past due amounts.

On October 15, 1969, appellant filed his complaint, alleging he was bringing a class action against appellee. He described the class he claimed to represent as “that class of individuals and firms that are credit card holders of the Defendant, SHELL OIL COMPANY” which class “is constituted by a great multitude of numerous individuals and firms” to “all or many” of whom the matters alleged in the complaint “are of common interest”.

*459The substance of appellant’s complaint is that the U/2% per month finance imposed hy appellee without the oral or written permission of appellant and “all or many members of [plaintiff’s] class” is illegal since the highest allowable interest rate is 6% per year. See § 687.01, Fla.Stat. Appellant prayed: (a) for an accounting “to determine the extent and amount of the Defendant’s financial books and records so as to determine the extent and amount of interest improperly billed to or collected from the members of the class by the Defendant” ; (b) that “the Court permanently enjoin the Defendant from charging, billing or collecting interest at the rate of \]/z% per month on the unpaid balance from its credit card holders in the absence of an agreement in writing between the Defendant and its credit card holders for such rate of interest or any rate of interest above the legal rate of interest”; and for an award of money damages to appellant “and his class” of the difference between the excessive interest charges levied and the legal interest rate. Appellant admitted owing appellee $162.67 and paid that sum into the registry of the court.

On November 4, 1969, appellee’s counsel wrote appellant to inform him that his account with appellee was cancelled and that the delinquent charges of $3.04 were eliminated because “their removal is simply more expedient and economical than incurring legal expense to disprove your contention that they are improper * * The letter also requested payment of $162.-67, the amount remaining after deletion of the disputed delinquent charge.

The same day the letter was written, appellee filed its answer. Appellee denied the existence of any class, denied appellant’s right to represent any class, and denied the material allegations regarding improper interest rates. It affirmatively alleged that since appellant’s account had been cancelled and the delinquent charge appellant complained of had been deleted as of November 4, 1969, there existed no present controversy between “the Plaintiff and the Defendant.” Appellee counterclaimed for $162.67, the amount appellant admitted he owed. Appellant’s answer to the counterclaim admitted its allegations.

Thereafter appellee moved for judgment on the pleadings. The circuit court granted the motion and entered final judgment of $162.67 for appellee. The judgment stated that appellant admitted he was indebted to appellee in the sum of $162.67 and that appellee validly removed' the late charges and validly cancelled his credit card account. The court concluded that no “litigatable controversy between the Plaintiff on his own behalf and the Defendant and, accordingly, the Plaintiff cannot properly proceed to represent the alleged class consisting of the other credit card holders doing business with the Defendant” and entered a judgment of dismissal with prejudice in favor of the ap-pellee and against the appellant, “individually and as a member of the alleged class of credit card holders of the said Defendant * *

It is our opinion that the trial court made a correct disposition of the cause and that the judgment appealed should be affirmed. Sheppard v. Williams, Fla.App.1966, 193 So.2d 191.

Affirmed.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Ahearn v. Mayo Clinic, 180 So. 3d 165 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)
    …t. 669, 675, 38 L.Ed.2d 674, 682 (1974)) (footnote and citations omitted). See also Chinchilla v. Star Cas. Ins. Co., 833 So. 2d 804 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002); Graham v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 813 So. 2d 273 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002); Syna v. Shell Oil Co., 241 So. 2d 458 (Fla.1970).4 Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing Ahearn’s second count was. for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. “Florida contract law does recognize an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in e…
  • Beth S. v. Grant Assocs., Inc., 409 So. 2d 196 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed. Syna v. Shell Oil Company, 241 So. 2d 458 (Fla.3d DCA 1970), cert. denied, 245 So. 2d 871 (Fla.1971).…
  • Ferreiro v. Philadelphia Indem. Ins. Co., 928 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)
    …le, individual claim existed at the time of the entry of the dismissals for lack of standing, nevertheless they illustrate the point that standing is determined by reference to the purported class action claim. For example, in Syna v. Shell Oil Co., 241 So. 2d 458 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970), the plaintiff Sidney Syna filed a class action complaint to recover alleged usurious credit card interest. On the day Shell’s answer was due, its counsel informed Syna by letter that it was canceling his credit card and returning…
    1 / 2

Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw