Fireside Bank v. Superior Court

In Fireside Bank v. Superior Court, real party in interest Gonzalez had filed class claims against Fireside, a bank holding car leases, under the Rees-Levering Motor Vehicle Sales and Finance Act.  Fireside concurrently filed claims against the class representative in her individual capacity.  The court reached and rejected the merits of Fireside’s claim against Gonzalez before certifying the class.  Fireside appealed, arguing that under California precedent known as the Home Savings cases, any ruling on the merits in a class action before notice is sent to the class is impermissible.  In an exhaustive ruling, the the California Court of Appeals 6th Division rejected this strict reading of Home Savings in this context, noting in particular that this ruling was only on the merits of Fireside’s claim against the individual class representative and was not a ruling on any of the class’s claims.