Vargas v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A.

999 F. Supp. 2d 1171, 2013 WL 6235575, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169863
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedDecember 2, 2013
DocketCase No. 12-cv-02008-JST
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 999 F. Supp. 2d 1171 (Vargas v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vargas v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., 999 F. Supp. 2d 1171, 2013 WL 6235575, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169863 (N.D. Cal. 2013).

Opinion

[1172]*1172ORDER RE: LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION

Re: ECF No. 92

JON S. TIGAR, United States District Judge

Before the Court is the question of whether a national banking association is a citizen only of the state in which it maintains its “main office,” or whether it is also a citizen of the state in which it maintains its principal place of business. Because Plaintiffs are California citizens, and Wells Fargo is incorporated in South Dakota but its principal place of business is in California, the answer to that question will determine whether this action must be remanded to state court.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Juan Manual Vargas and Hilda Vargas filed this action in San Mateo County Superior Court on March 19, 2012, against Defendants “Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. aka Wachovia Mortgage, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and Wa Wachovia, Mortgage, FSB formerly known as World Savings Bank, FSR, as beneficiary,” and Cal-Western Reconveyance Corp. Wells Fargo removed the action to this Court on April 20, 2012, based on diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332 and 1441. ECF No. 1. The Notice of Removal argued that Cal-Western Reconveyance Corp., a California corporation, was fraudulently joined, and that Wells Fargo is a citizen of South Dakota, whereas Plaintiffs are citizens of California. Id. Defendant Cal-Western Reconveyance Corp. has not appeared in this action, and the record contains no evidence that it has been served. On July 25, 2013, Wells Fargo filed a notice of bankruptcy petition stating that EC Closing Corp., formerly known as Cal-Western Reconveyance Corp., filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the District of Delaware, Case No. 13-11619-BLS. The Complaint filed in state court alleges that Cal-Western Reconveyance Corp. is a California Corporation.

Following two motions to dismiss, ECF Nos. 34, 57, Plaintiffs filed their operative Third Amended Complaint on January 10, 2013, ECF No. 64 (“Complaint”). The Complaint asserts five causes of action arising out of alleged racial discrimination in the modification of a home loan: (1) violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 17200, et seq., (2) common law fraud, (3) injunctive and declaratory relief, (4) negligence, and (5) to set aside the foreclosure sale of Plaintiffs’ home.

Wells Fargo moved for summary judgment as to each cause of action on July 11, 2013. Mot., ECF No. 74. After the motion was fully briefed, the Court issued an Order to Show Cause why this case should not be remanded for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because Wells Fargo may be a citizen of California, defeating diversity. ECF No. 92 (citing Martinez v. Wells Fargo Bank, No. 12-cv-6006-EMC, 946 F.Supp.2d 1010, 2013 WL 2237879 (N.D.Cal. May 21, 2013)).

II. LEGAL STANDARD

“Except as otherwise expressly provided by Act of Congress, any civil action brought in a State court of which the district courts of the United States have original jurisdiction, may be removed by the defendant or the defendants, to the district court of the United States for the district and division embracing the place where such action is pending.” 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). “If at any time before final judgment, it appears that the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the case shall be remanded.” 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). District courts have an independent duty to establish subject matter jurisdiction [1173]*1173over a removed action regardless of whether a party raises the issue. United Investors Life Ins. Co. v. Waddell & Reed Inc., 360 F.3d 960, 967 (9th Cir.2004).

The burden of establishing federal jurisdiction lies with the party asserting it. Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77, 96, 130 S.Ct. 1181, 175 L.Ed.2d 1029 (2010). The Ninth Circuit “strictly construe[s] the removal statute against removal jurisdiction.” Gaus v. Miles, Inc., 980 F.2d 564, 566 (9th Cir.1992) (citations omitted). Thus, “[fjederal jurisdiction must be rejected if there is any doubt as to the right of removal in the first instance.” Id. The “strong presumption” against removal jurisdiction must be overcome by the removing party. Id.; Abrego v. Dow Chemical Co., 443 F.3d 676, 685 (9th Cir.2006). Here, the removing party is Wells Fargo.

III. ANALYSIS

For purposes of determining federal court diversity jurisdiction, corporations are “deemed to be a citizen of every State and foreign state by which it has been incorporated” and, since 1958, “of the State or foreign state where it has its principal place of business.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). See Act of July 25, 1958, 72 Stat. 415. State-chartered banks usually fit within the diversity statute, but national banks, chartered by the Comptroller of the Currency of the U.S. Treasury, do not, as they are not incorporated by any state. See Wachovia Bank v. Schmidt, 546 U.S. 303, 306, 126 S.Ct. 941, 163 L.Ed.2d 797 (2006). In 1948, at a time when the diversity statute did not address corporate citizenship, Congress provided: “All national banking associations shall, for the purposes of all other actions by or against them, be deemed citizens of the States in which they are respectively located.” 28 U.S.C. § 1348. See Act of June 25, 1948, 62 Stat. 933. The corporate dual citizenship test was introduced by Congress ten years later.

In Schmidt, the Supreme Court recognized a circuit split on the question of national bank citizenship for diversity purposes. In Firstar Bank, N.A. v. Faul, 253 F.3d 982, 993-94 (7th Cir.2001), the Seventh Circuit held that national banks are “located” in, and therefore citizens of the states both in which they have their main office and principal place of business (if those states are different). In Horton v. Bank One, N.A., 387 F.3d 426, 431 (5th Cir.2004), the Fifth Circuit followed suit. The Fourth Circuit in Schmidt and the Second Circuit in World Trade Ctr. Properties, L.L.C. v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 345 F.3d 154

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999 F. Supp. 2d 1171, 2013 WL 6235575, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169863, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vargas-v-wells-fargo-bank-na-cand-2013.