Rivera v. Washington Mutual Bank, Case No. 09-021 (D.N.J. July 10, 2009)

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey was presented with several Motions to Dismiss an Amended Complaint which the Court described as a “hopelessly muddled, misstated and mangled Amended Complaint” in which jurisdiction was based solely on CAFA. Recognizing the split of authority regarding whether a federal court retains jurisdiction based solely on CAFA if class certification is ultimately denied, the Court determined that, under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(8), it had “provisional jurisdiction” to decide issues bearing on class certification, and that the Court would no longer retain jurisdiction if class certification is later denied. The Court granted the motions to dismiss, and granted leave to the plaintiffs to file a Motion to Amend the Complaint.