The California Court of Appeal recently made it more difficult
for plaintiffs to certify class actions based on false advertising
or fraud. In Downey v. Public Storage, Inc., Case No.
B291662, ___Cal.App.5th___ (Feb. 6, 2020), the Court of Appeal
affirmed an order denying class certification on the grounds that
issues of deception and reliance were not susceptible to common
proof.
In March 2015, several plaintiffs filed a class action against
Public Storage, alleging that its $1 promotional rate was
deceptive, violated California's Unfair Competition Law (Bus.
& Prof. § 17200 et seq.), and constituted a false
advertisement. In particular, the plaintiffs alleged that the $1
promotional rate was deceptive because customers had to pay more
than $1 for their first month of storage due to (1) having to pay
for a new account fee, (2) being charged for a second month's
rent on the first day of the next calendar month, (3) having to pay
for a lock for their storage unit, and
