Justia Business Law Opinion Summaries

Plaintiffs filed a putative class action against defendants, a group of developers and their agents or affiliates, claiming that defendants' business practices violated California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL), Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 17200 et seq. Plaintiffs specifically alleged that defendants failed to make certain disclosures as required by the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (ILSA), 15 U.S.C. 1701 et seq. Although defendants concede that they failed to comply with the disclosure requirements, they raise certain affirmative defenses. The district court rejected defendants' claims and granted partial summary judgment for plaintiffs. In this interlocutory appeal, the court affirmed the judgment. The court concluded that, because the UCL's four-year statute of limitations and its accompanying accrual rules apply, the district court properly concluded that plaintiffs’ UCL claim is not time-barred; defendants failed to overcome the strong presumption against preemption, and ILSA’s three-year statute of limitations does not bar plaintiffs’ UCL claim; plaintiffs' units are "lots" and are therefore subject to ILSA's disclosure requirements; the Improved Lot Exemption does not extinguish plaintiffs’ claims; the text and interpretive history of the statute lead to the conclusion that the agency’s interpretation of “lot” is reasonable and entitled to Chevron deference; and the 2014 Amendment to ILSA does not retroactively apply to the present action where the amendment was a substantive change in the law. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Beaver v. Tarsadia Hotels" on Justia Law

Plaintiff, the court appointed receiver for PEMGroup, filed suit against Stonefield, the CPAs who audited the financial statements for six of PEMGroup's fraudulent offerings, contending that Stonefield’s reports and related conduct materially misrepresented PEMGroup’s financial condition, allowing PEMGroup’s management to prolong the life of their scheme and to loot and to dissipate assets from PEMGroup. The district court dismissed plaintiff's claims of professional negligence and aiding and abetting the wrongful conversion of PEMGroup's assets. The court concluded that the district court properly concluded that to survive summary judgment, plaintiff would have to offer substantial evidence – meaning sufficient evidence to justify a verdict in his favor – that investors reasonably relied on Stonefield’s audits in order to show causation. In this case, before the district court and at oral argument, plaintiff admitted he did not submit direct evidence that investors relied on Stonefield’s audit reports or how PEMGroup used them. Further, the court concluded that the district court did not err in sua sponte dismissing plaintiff’s unjust enrichment claim. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Mosier v. Stonefield Josephson, Inc." on Justia Law