Marler

Courts deciding whether to certify that a lawsuit qualifies for a class action must determine which obstacles create insuperable barriers to class relief and which do not. This can be a daunting task, but not here.

Plaintiffs Frank Marler, Sandra Marler and the Hollywood Beach Acquisition Association, Inc. (HBAA) (plaintiffs), filed a class action complaint on behalf of the Hollywood Beach Mobile Home Park (Park) residents against the Park *1455 owners. They appeal an order denying their motion to certify a class action for breach of contract and fraud against defendants E.M. Johansing, LLC, J.D. McGrath Farms, Philip H. McGrath, Maureen McGrath Aggeler, Terence McGrath Aggeler, Sheila Aggeler Barnes and Anne Aggeler Will (defendants).

Plaintiffs allege that the Park is a senior citizens mobilehome park subject to rent control; that Park owners induced them to convert the Park to a condominium development through false promises about the purchase price they would pay for their lots; after Park residents approved the conversion, Park owners raised the lot prices so high that the majority of Park residents could not afford them.

We conclude, among other things, that (1)…