Issue

Certification—class consisting of home builders—entitlement to refund of water and sewer impact fees paid to city

Summary

In a declaratory judgment action filed by two home construction companies, each seeking a refund of allegedly illegal Capital Facilities Fees (CFFs) paid to the City of Raleigh in exchange for connection to the city's water and sewer systems, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by granting the companies' motion to certify–pursuant to Civil Procedure Rule 23–a class consisting of home builders who had also paid the CFFs. The plain language of the applicable "refund statute" (N.C.G.S. § 160D-106) provided for refunds of illegally imposed fees to any "person who made the payment," making no distinction between those who ultimately bore the economic burden of the fee and those who passed that burden on to others through subsequent private transactions. Therefore, the fact that some class members incorporated the CFFs into the prices they charged home buyers did not defeat the existence of a class, create conflicts of interest among class members, or render a class action inferior to other available methods of adjudicating the case.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →