Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Lynton Ballentine

714 F. App'x 254

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: March 7, 2018
• Docket: 17-2187
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

Appellants appeal from the district court’s order adopting the report and recommendation of the magistrate judge and remanding the foreclosure action filed against Appellants back to state court. We dismiss the appeal.

Remand orders are generally “not reviewable on appeal or otherwise.” 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d). The Supreme Court has explained that the appellate restrictions of “§ 1447(d) must be read in pari materia with § 1447(c), so that only remands based on grounds specified in § 1447(c) [i.e., lack of subject matter jurisdiction and defects in removal procedures] are immune from review under § 1447(d).” Things Remembered, Inc. v. Petrarca, 516 U.S. 124, 127, 116 S.Ct. 494, 133 L.Ed.2d 461 (1995). Whether a remand order is reviewable is not based on a district court’s explicit citation to § 1447(c); “[t]he bar of § 1447(d) applies to any order invoking substantively one of the grounds specified in § 1447(c).” Bomeman v. United States, 213 F.3d 819, 824-25 (4th Cir. 2000).

Here, the district court explicitly noted that there was no subject matter jurisdiction and cited § 1447(c). Because the basis for remand fell within the ambit of § 1447(c), we lack jurisdiction to review the merits of the district court’s order. Thus, we dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED