Munguia-Brown

BACKGROUND

24 Plaintiffs are current and former tenants in Equity’s California properties who were 25 charged a late fee when they breached their lease agreements by failing to timely pay rent. 26 27 Plaintiffs claim that the late fee was an unlawful liquidated damages provision; Equity disagrees. The Court has certified two separate classes for a Standard Late Fee set of residents and a Woodland Park Pre-Existing Lease set of residents. Due to Court resources and the parties’ multiple filings, the Court shall address each of the motions briefly, with the intention to move the matter along to resolution. The Court and the parties are familiar with the facts and the procedural posture of the case, and they will not be repeated here. Other additional relevant facts shall be addressed in the remainder of the Court’s order. ANALYSIS A. Motion to Decertify the Classes. On October 23, 2017, this Court certified the Standard Late Fee and Woodland Park Pre- Existing Leases Classes. (See Dkt. No. 91, Order Granting Motion to Certify.) Defendants filed a motion for permission to appeal the…