Juarez

I.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs Sergio and Laura Juarez appeal from a judgment entered in favor of defendant Arcadia Financial, Ltd. (Arcadia), on the Juarezes’ class claims. The Juarezes filed an action against Arcadia in which they asserted both individual claims and claims brought on behalf of a class, pursuant to the unfair competition law (UCL) (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.). The Juarezes allege that Arcadia engaged in unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices by violating the requirements of the Rees-Levering Automobile Sales Finance Act (Rees-Levering or the Act) (Civ. Code, § 2983 et seq.).

Rees-Levering provides a detailed framework that governs conditional sales contracts for motor vehicles. Under the Act, defaulting buyers whose cars have been repossessed by a creditor must be given the opportunity to redeem their vehicles by paying the full balance due under the contract. The Act also requires that defaulting buyers be given the opportunity, in many circumstances, to reinstate their contracts by curing the default and meeting certain other conditions set by the creditor. From the buyer’s perspective, the option of reinstating a contract is often…