Mercy Housing v. Robinson

Filing 3

SUA SPONTE REMAND ORDER signed by Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr. on 1/4/2016 ; REMANDING this case to Superior Court of California, County of San Joaquin. Copy of remand order sent to other court. CASE CLOSED. (Michel, G.)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MERCY HOUSING INC.,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 2:15-cv-02643-GEB-CKD

SUA SPONTE REMAND ORDER*

v.
MARY ROBINSON, and DOES 1-3,

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Defendants.

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On December 22, 2015, Defendant Mary Robinson filed a

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Notice of Removal removing this unlawful detainer action from the

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Superior

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(Notice

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reasons, the Court sua sponte remands this case to the Superior

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Court of California for the County of San Joaquin for lack of

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subject matter jurisdiction.

Court
of

of

for

the

County

(“NOR”),

ECF

No.

1.)

Removal

“There

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California

is

presumption

AABB Fitness Holdings, Inc., 414 F. App’x 62, 64 (9th Cir. 2011)

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(quoting Gaus v. Miles, Inc., 980 F.2d 564, 566 (9th Cir. 1992)).

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“If

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district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the case shall

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*

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judgment

it

the

removal

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final

has

against

establishing that removal is proper.” Lindley Contours, LLC v.

before

party

following

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time

removing

the

Joaquin.

jurisdiction,’

any

the

‘strong

For

San

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at

and

a

of

appears

burden

that

of

the

The undersigned judge revokes any actual or anticipated referral to a
Magistrate Judge for the purposes of Findings and Recommendations in this
case.

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be remanded.” 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). “The court may - indeed must -

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remand

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subject matter jurisdiction.” GFD, LLC v. Carter, No. CV 12-08985

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MMM (FFMx), 2012 WL 5830079, at *2 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 15, 2012)

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(citing Kelton Arms Condo. Owners Ass’n v. Homestead Ins. Co.,

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346 F.3d 1190, 1192 (9th Cir. 2003)).

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an

action

sua

sponte

if

it

determines

that

it

lacks

Defendant asserts in the Notice of Removal (“NOR”) that

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federal

question

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Defendant contends “Plaintiff was required to state a cause of
the

jurisdiction

5-14.)

(“PTFA”)], but sought to avoid those protections by filing this

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action as an ‘Unlawful Detainer’ by artful pleadings in State

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Court.” (Id. at & 7.) Defendant further argues that “the PTFA is

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essential to the right of possession, . . . [and] Plaintiff

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cannot defeat removal by omitting [a] necessary federal question

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of law.” (Id. & 10.)
of

the

at

&

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review

Tenants

(NOR

action

However,

[Protecting

exists.

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under

removal

Complaint

Foreclosure

reveals

Act

Plaintiff

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alleges a single claim for unlawful detainer under California

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law, and “[a]s a general rule, . . . a case will not be removable

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if the complaint does not affirmatively allege a federal claim.”

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Beneficial Nat’l Bank v. Anderson, 539 U.S. 1, 6 (2003). “The

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presence or absence of federal-question jurisdiction is governed

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by the ‘well-pleaded complaint rule,’ which provides that federal

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jurisdiction exists only when a federal question is presented on

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the face of the plaintiff’s properly pleaded complaint.” Retail

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Prop. Trust v. United Bhd. of Carpenters & Joiners of Am., 768

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F.3d 938, 947 (9th Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted)

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(quoting Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 393 (1987)).
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“Moreover, ‘it is well established that [the] plaintiff is the

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master

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jurisdiction.’”

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2015

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Loowdermilk v. U.S. First Nat’l Ass’n, 479 F.3d 994, 998-99 (9th

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Cir. 2007), overruled on other grounds, Rodriguez v. AT & T

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Mobility

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(remanding unlawful detainer action sua sponte).

of

WL

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[its]

Goraya

7281611,

Servs.

complaint

at

LLC,

v.
*2

and

can

Martinez,
(E.D.

728

F.3d

plead
No.

Cal.

975,

to

avoid

federal

2:15-cv-2375-JAM-KJN,

Nov.

977

17,

2015)

(9th

(quoting

Cir.

2013))

For the stated reasons, this case is remanded to the

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Superior Court of California for the County of San Joaquin.

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Dated:

January 4, 2016

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