S.D. Ga. Holds That Second Amended Complaint Filed Post-CAFA Constitutes "Commencement" of the Action under CAFA

The court in Senterfitt v. SunTrust Mortg., Inc., 385 F.Supp.2d 1377 (S.D. Ga. Aug. 31, 2005) has held that although the named plaintiff originally filed the case in state court prior to the Feb. 18, 2005 enactment date of the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), once he filed his Second Amended Complaint after that date the action could be deemed "commenced" at that later time, rendering the case removable to federal court. The court reached this conclusion by determining that the Second Amended Complaint did not relate back to the time of the original filing under FRCP Rule 15(c) because the amended complaint expanded the membership of the class.