Deborah Davenport v. Seattle Bank et al

Filing 9

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION by Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell. The Court ORDERS Defendants to show cause as to why this caseshould not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Defendants' response to this Order shall identify Seattle Banks organizational structure and allege its citizenship in accordance with the authorities cited above. Defendants' response shall be filed by no later than Wednesday, June 24, 2015, at 12:00 p.m. (rfi)

LINK:
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL MINUTES – GENERAL
Case No.

CV 15-04475 BRO (JEMx)

Title

DEBORAH DAVENPORT V. SEATTLE BANK ET AL.

Date

June 18, 2015

Present: The Honorable

BEVERLY REID O’CONNELL, United States District Judge

Renee A. Fisher

Not Present

N/A

Deputy Clerk

Court Reporter

Tape No.

Attorneys Present for Plaintiffs:

Attorneys Present for Defendants:

Not Present

Not Present

Proceedings:

(IN CHAMBERS)

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION
Plaintiff Deborah Davenport (“Plaintiff”) initiated this action in the Superior Court
of California, County of Los Angeles. (Removal Ex. A.) Defendants Seattle Bank and
Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. (“Reverse Mortgage”) (collectively, “Defendants”)
removed the matter to this Court on June 12, 2015, invoking this Court’s diversity
jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. (Removal ¶ 3.)
A federal court must determine its own jurisdiction even if there is no objection to
it. Rains v. Criterion Sys., Inc., 80 F.3d 339, 342 (9th Cir. 1996). Because federal courts
are of limited jurisdiction, they possess original jurisdiction only as authorized by the
Constitution and federal statute. See Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511
U.S. 375, 377 (1994). Original jurisdiction may be established pursuant to § 1332(a)(1).
Under the complete diversity rule, a plaintiff must meet the diversity statute’s
requirements with respect to each defendant. See Newman-Green, Inc. v. AlfonzoLarrain, 490 U.S. 826, 829 (1989).
For purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a national bank is deemed to be a citizen
“only of the state in which its main office is located.” Rouse v. Wachovia Mortgage,
FSB, 747 F.3d 707, 709 (9th Cir. 2014) (holding that national banks are not also citizens
of the state in which they maintain a principal place of business). The location of a
national bank’s main office is designated in the bank’s articles of association. See
Wachovia Bank v. Schmidt, 546 U.S. 303, 307 (2006). A state-chartered bank, on the
other hand, is treated the same as a corporation when determining citizenship. Id. at 306;
see also Rouse, 747 F.3d at 709 n.2. Accordingly, a state-chartered bank is deemed to be
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LINK:
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL MINUTES – GENERAL
Case No.

CV 15-04475 BRO (JEMx)

Title

DEBORAH DAVENPORT V. SEATTLE BANK ET AL.

Date

June 18, 2015

a citizen of its state of incorporation, as well as the state where it maintains its principal
place of business. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1).
The Notice of Removal does not contain sufficient allegations to demonstrate
complete diversity. The notice alleges that Plaintiff is a citizen of California, and that
Reverse Mortgages, a corporation, is a citizen of Delaware and Texas. (Removal ¶ 4.)
Seattle Bank’s citizenship, however, remains unclear, as the notice merely alleges that the
entity is “an FDIC Savings Bank with its principal place of business in the State of
Washington.” (Removal ¶ 4.)
Accordingly, the Court ORDERS Defendants to show cause as to why this case
should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Defendants’ response to
this Order shall identify Seattle Bank’s organizational structure and allege its citizenship
in accordance with the authorities cited above. Defendants’ response shall be filed by no
later than Wednesday, June 24, 2015, at 12:00 p.m.
:

IT IS SO ORDERED.
Initials of Preparer

rf

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