U.S. Bank National Association v. Debbie Alice Thompson

Background

U.S. Bank National Association filed an unlawful-detainer action in Santa Clara County Superior Court against Debbie Alice Thompson, Albert Gordon Brown, Tiffany A. Thompson, Shengyu Wang, and placeholder Doe defendants. U.S. Bank alleged that the defendants failed to vacate property in Monte Sereno, California, after a foreclosure sale on January 19, 2022.

On December 5, 2025, Thompson removed the case to the Northern District of California. She invoked federal-question jurisdiction and relied on claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fair Housing Act that she said she had asserted in opposing U.S. Bank’s motion for summary judgment in the state case. The opinion notes that it was unclear whether U.S. Bank had actually filed a summary-judgment motion in state court.

Jurisdictional analysis

Federal-question jurisdiction applies when the plaintiff’s properly pleaded complaint presents a claim arising under the Constitution, federal law, or a treaty. The court emphasized that a federal defense or counterclaim does not establish federal-question jurisdiction.

U.S. Bank’s complaint asserted only a state-law unlawful-detainer claim and did not allege any federal claim. The court therefore concluded that the complaint did not create federal-question jurisdiction. Thompson did not assert another basis for federal jurisdiction, such as diversity jurisdiction, and the court found no such basis apparent.

Disposition

Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi concluded that removal was improper because the federal court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. The court recommended that the case be remanded to Santa Clara County Superior Court. Because not all parties had consented to magistrate-judge jurisdiction, the clerk was directed to reassign the case to a district judge, and the recommendation was left for the newly assigned judge to act on. This opinion recommends remand; it does not state that the district judge had already entered the remand order.