Eskanos v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC et al

Filing 37

ORDER. ORDERED that plaintiff, Robby A. Eskanos's, Motion To Remand 30 is GRANTED, and this action is REMANDED to the District Court for Grand County, Colorado. ORDERED that defendant Nationstar Mortgage, LLCs, Motion To Dismiss First Amended Complaint Pursuant To Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) 26 is DENIED AS MOOT. ORDERED that defendant, Mortgage Specialists International, Inc.'s Partial Motion To Dismiss Pursuant To Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) 32 is DENIED AS MOOT by Judge Wiley Y. Daniel on 06/13/13.(jjhsl, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Senior Judge Wiley Y. Daniel
Civil Action No. 12-cv-03250-WYD-BNB
ROBBY A. ESKANOS,
Plaintiff,
v.
NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE, LLC, and
MORTGAGE SPECIALISTS INTERNATIONAL, LLC, a Texas Limited Liability
Company,
Defendants.
______________________________________________________________________
ORDER
______________________________________________________________________
THIS MATTER is before the Court on plaintiff, Robby A. Eskanos’s, Motion To
Remand [ECF No. 30]. For the reasons stated below, the motion is GRANTED and this
action is REMANDED to the District Court for Grand County, Colorado.
BACKGROUND
On December 3, 2012, plaintiff, Robby A. Eskanos, filed a state court complaint
[ECF No. 1-6] in the District Court for Grand County, Colorado, against Nationstar
Mortgage, LLC, and Mike Bigby alleging numerous state law claims along with a claim
under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. §
1961, et seq. On December 13, 2012, Nationstar filed a Notice Of Removal [ECF No. 1]
and removed the action to the United States District Court for the District of Colorado on
the basis of federal question jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331.1 On January 27,

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Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, “[t]he district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions
arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.”

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2013, Eskanos filed an Amended Complaint [ECF No. 17] in which he does not allege a
RICO claim as he did in his state court complaint. On April 9, 2013, Eskanos filed a
Motion To Remand [ECF No. 30] requesting this Court to remand this action because
the basis for which subject matter jurisdiction existed upon removal, federal question
jurisdiction, no longer as exists as Eskanos did not plead a RICO claim in his Amended
Complaint [ECF No. 17]. Neither Nationstar nor MSI responded to Eskanos’s motion.
ANALYSIS
A. Eskanos’s Motion To Remand [ECF No. 30]
Eskanos requests that I remand this action to the District Court for Grand County,
Colorado, because the original basis on which this Court exercised subject matter
jurisdiction, federal question, no longer exists.
Eskanos’s state court complaint [ECF No. 1-6] includes a RICO claim. See ECF
No. 4, p. 7. Nationstar based its removal action on Eskanos’s RICO claim. See ECF
No. 1, p. 2, ¶ 3 (“This Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
1331, because the Complaint raises a federal question”). Eskanos’s Amended
Complaint [ECF No. 17] does not include a RICO claim nor does it include any claim
that arises “under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. §
1331. Thus, federal question subject matter jurisdiction no longer exists.
As of Thursday, June 13, 2013, neither Nationstar nor MSI has responded to
Eskanos’s motion. Therefore, I treat Eskanos’s motion as unopposed and as if
Nationstar and MSI do not object to the relief Eskanos requests. Accordingly, there
being no basis for subject matter jurisdiction and the defendants not asserting any such
basis, I find that this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Eskanos’s claims and

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this action is REMANDED to the District Court for Grand County, Colorado. See 28
U.S.C. § 1447(c) (“If at any time before final judgment it appears that the district court
lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the case shall be remanded”).
CONCLUSION
After careful consideration of the matter before this Court, it is
ORDERED that plaintiff, Robby A. Eskanos’s, Motion To Remand [ECF No. 30]
is GRANTED, and this action is REMANDED to the District Court for Grand County,
Colorado. In light of this ruling, it is
FURTHER ORDERED that defendant Nationstar Mortgage, LLC’s, Motion To
Dismiss First Amended Complaint Pursuant To Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) [ECF No. 26] is
DENIED AS MOOT. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that defendant, Mortgage Specialists International, Inc.’s
Partial Motion To Dismiss Pursuant To Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) [ECF No. 32] is DENIED
AS MOOT.
Dated: June 13, 2013.
BY THE COURT:

/s/ Wiley Y. Daniel
Wiley Y. Daniel
Senior U. S. District Judge

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