Wells Fargo Bank, National Association v. Bustamante et al

Filing 4

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE Order to Show Cause Hearing set for 5/31/2012 10:00 AM. Show Cause Response due by 5/17/2012.. Signed by Judge Maria-Elena James on 4/30/2012. (cdnS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 4/30/2012)

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1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 Northern District of California 5 6 WELLS FARGO BANK, et al., Plaintiffs, 7 No. C 12-2089 MEJ ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE v. 8 9 10 HELEN BUSTAMANTE and JIMMY LOPEZ, Defendants. _____________________________________/ 12 For the Northern District of California UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 On April 26, 2012, the Defendants removed this unlawful detainer action from Placer County 13 Superior Court. However, an unlawful detainer action does not arise under federal law but is purely a 14 creature of California law. Wells Fargo Bank v. Lapeen, 2011 WL 2194117, at *3 (N.D. Cal. June 6, 15 2011); Wescom Credit Union v. Dudley, 2010 WL 4916578, at *2 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 22, 2010). Thus, it 16 appears that jurisdiction is lacking and the case should be remanded to state court. Accordingly, the 17 Court ORDERS Defendants to show cause why this case should not be remanded to the Placer 18 County Superior Court. Defendants shall file a declaration by May 17, 2012, and the Court shall 19 conduct a hearing on May 31, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom B, 15th Floor, 450 Golden Gate 20 Avenue, San Francisco, California. In the declaration, Defendants must address how this Court has 21 jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s unlawful detainer claim. 22 Defendants should be mindful that an anticipated federal defense or counterclaim is not 23 sufficient to confer jurisdiction. Franchise Tax Bd. of California v. Construction Laborers Vacation 24 Trust, 463 U.S. 1, 10 (1983); Berg v. Leason, 32 F.3d 422, 426 (9th Cir.1994). “A case may not be 25 removed to federal court on the basis of a federal defense, . . . even if the defense is anticipated in the 26 plaintiff's complaint, and even if both parties admit that the defense is the only question truly at issue 27 in the case.” ARCO Environmental Remediation, LLC v. Dept. of Health and Environmental Quality 28 of the State of Montana, 213 F.3d 1108, 1113 (9th Cir. 2000); see also Valles v. Ivy Hill Corp., 410 1 F.3d 1071, 1075 (9th Cir. 2005) (“A federal law defense to a state-law claim does not confer 2 jurisdiction on a federal court, even if the defense is that of federal preemption and is anticipated in 3 the plaintiff's complaint.”). Thus, any anticipated defense, such as a claim under the Protecting 4 Tenants at Foreclosure Act (“PTFA”), Pub.L. No. 111–22, § 702, 123 Stat. 1632 (2009), is not a valid 5 ground for removal. See e.g. Aurora Loan Services, LLC v. Montoya, 2011 WL 5508926, at *4 6 (E.D.Cal. Nov. 9, 2011); SD Coastline LP v. Buck, 2010 WL 4809661, at *2–3 (S.D.Cal. Nov.19, 7 2010); Wescom Credit Union v. Dudley, 2010 WL 4916578, at 2–3 (C.D.Cal. Nov. 22, 2010); Aurora 8 Loan Services, LLC v. Martinez, 2010 WL 1266887, at * 1 (N.D.Cal. March 29, 2010). 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 _______________________________ Maria-Elena James Chief United States Magistrate Judge 12 For the Northern District of California UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 Dated: April 30, 2012 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 1 2 3 WELLS FARGO BANK, No. C 12-02089 MEJ 4 Plaintiff(s), 5 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE v. 6 JIMMY BUSTAMANTE, Defendant(s). 7 / 9 I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. 10 That on April 30, 2012, I SERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by placing said 11 copy(ies) in a postage paid envelope addressed to the person(s) hereinafter listed, by depositing said envelope in the U.S. Mail, or by placing said copy(ies) into an inter-office delivery receptacle located 12 in the Clerk's office. For the Northern District of California UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 13 14 Helen Bustamante Jimmy Lopez 15 5141 Ashley Woods Drive Granite Bay, CA 95746 16 17 Dated: April 30, 2012 18 Richard W. Wieking, Clerk By: Rose Maher, Deputy Clerk 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

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