Federal Judge Issues Discovery Order On Tenants’ UCL Suit Over Late Fee

Mealey's (June 15, 2020, 11:15 AM EDT) -- SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on June 9 held that defendants have waived attorney-client privilege as to all attorney-client communications regarding the legal advice from outside counsel and in-house counsel concerning the legality of a late fee in a lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated California’s Civil Code Section 1671(d) and Business and Professions Code Section 17200 by charging tenants the greater of $50 or 5 percent of their outstanding balance for late rent payments (Javanni Munguia-Brown, et al. v. Equity Residential, et al., No. 16-01225, N.D. Calif., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101784)....