Ballard

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Plaintiffs Gary Ballard and Nancy Ballard move this court to reconsider the September 9, 1997 order denying class certification. E.D. Local Rule 78-230(k). Plaintiffs base their motion on an alleged change in the facts and applicable law and on an alleged injustice which will result if the class is not certified. For the reasons set forth below, the order denying class certification is amended, and class certification is granted in accordance with this order.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Defendant Equifax Check Services, Inc. (“ECS”) is in the check authorization and warranty business. ECS enters into subscriber agreements with retail merchants who accept checks from their customers. Under the terms of the subscriber agreement, when a customer presents a check to the merchant, the merchant contacts ECS for authorization. ECS then consults its computer files to see if it has any pertinent information on the cheek writer and advises the merchant to either accept or decline the check. When a check authorized by ECS is dishonored, ECS purchases the check for full value, up to a certain dollar amount, and initiates collection efforts on its own behalf. Any sums recovered…