Hollyvale Rental Holdings, LLC v. Carolina Cipriana Hernandez et al

Filing 11

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS MOTION TO REMAND AS UNOPPOSED 7 by Judge Otis D. Wright, II: Case to State Court Case Remanded to Los Angeles Superior Court, Long Beach, No. 16F03710. MD JS-6. Case Terminated. (lc). Modified on 2/15/2017 (lc).

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United States District Court
Central District of California

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HOLLYVALE RENTAL HOLDINGS,
LLC,
Plaintiff,

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Case No. 2:17-cv-00346-ODW (MRW)

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S

v.
CAROLINA CIPRIANA HERNANDEZ;

MOTION TO REMAND AS

ERICK GONZALEZ; and DOES 1–10,

UNOPPOSED [7]

inclusive,
Defendants.

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The Court previously remanded this unlawful detainer action to the California

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Superior Court, County of Los Angeles on November 23, 2016. See Hollyvale Rental

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Holdings, LLC v. Carolina Cipriana Hernandez, Case No. 16-cv-7635 (C.D. Cal.

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2016). On December 2, 2016, the state court ruled in favor of Plaintiff Hollyvale

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Rental Holdings, LLC, and against Defendant Hernandez, awarding Plaintiff $5,035

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and possession of the premises. (Notice of Entry of State Court Judgment, ECF No.

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5-1.) On January 17, 2017, the state court denied Defendant Gonzalez’s claim to right

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of possession.1 (Notice of Entry of State Court Judgment, ECF No. 5-2.) That same

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day, Defendants again removed the case, alleging federal question jurisdiction,

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diversity jurisdiction, and federal civil rights jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §

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1443.2 (Not. of Removal 4, ECF No. 1.)

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On February 1, 2017, Plaintiff filed the instant motion to remand arguing that

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Defendants improperly removed this action to federal court. (Mot. 5–7, ECF No. 7.)

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A hearing on the motion was set for March 2, 2017. Defendants’ opposition to the

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motion was due on February 9, 2016, twenty-one days before the hearing. See L.R. 7-

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9. However, Defendants did not file an opposition by that date.

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The Court agrees with Plaintiff that Defendants improperly removed this action

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to federal court. To begin, this California unlawful detainer action contains no claim

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“arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States” that would

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allow for federal question jurisdiction. (Compl. 1, ECF No. 7-5); see also 28 U.S.C. §

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1331; Thawani v. Robertson, No. 16-CV-03732-JCS, 2016 WL 4472986, at *1 (N.D.

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Cal. July 18, 2016), report and recommendation adopted, No. C 16-03732 WHA,

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2016 WL 4436308 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 23, 2016) (“Unlawful detainer is a state law claim

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that does not implicate federal law.”).

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Further, the parties are not completely diverse and the amount in controversy

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does not exceed $75,000 as required for diversity jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332.

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Both parties are citizens of California and the removed case is a limited civil action

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with damages “not [to] exceed $10,000.” (See Compl. 1; see also Mot. 6.)

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Finally, Defendants’ defenses do not provide a basis for federal civil rights

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jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1443. Section 1443 allows removal where defendants

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“assert as a defense to the [action], rights that are given to them by explicit statutory

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Defendant Gonzalez is merely a claimant that lives at the same address as Defendant Hernandez,
he is not truly a defendant in this lawsuit. (See ECF No. 5-2.)
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The state court case number in Hollyvale Rental Holdings, LLC v. Carolina Cipriana Hernandez,
Case No. 16-cv-7635 (C.D. Cal. 2016) was 16F03710. The state court case number for the present
case is also 16F03710.

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enactment protecting equal racial civil rights” and “assert that the state courts will not

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enforce th[ose] right[s].” See Patel v. Del Taco, Inc., 446 F.3d 996, 998–99 (9th Cir.

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2006). Here, Defendants assert the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act and

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the California Homeowner’s Bill of Rights as defenses. (Not. of Removal 2–5.)

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Neither of these defenses relates to the protection of equal racial civil rights. Indeed,

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there is no indication that race plays any role in this case. Thus, Defendants’ claim to

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federal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1443 fails. See Working Dirt LLC v. Raynor,

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No. 16-CV-5444 YGR, 2016 WL 6124707, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 20, 2016) (denying

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28 U.S.C. § 1443 removal where the case lacked any racial-equity component); Duke

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Partners II, LLC v. Vonquerner, No. 5:16-CV-05542-HRL, 2016 WL 6273928, at *2

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(N.D. Cal. Oct. 27, 2016) (same); Baldini Real Estate, Inc. v. Cruz, No. 15-CV-2932

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YGR, 2015 WL 4760510, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 12, 2015) (same).

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As Defendants did not timely file an opposition to Plaintiff’s motion to remand

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and there does not appear to be any basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction, the

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Court invokes its authority under Local Rule 7-12 to GRANT Plaintiff’s motion as

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unopposed. This case shall be remanded back to the Superior Court of California,

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County of Los Angeles for further proceedings.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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February 15, 2017

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____________________________________
OTIS D. WRIGHT, II
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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