Breckenridge Property Fund 2016, LLC v. Ramos

Background

Breckenridge Property Fund 2016, LLC filed an unlawful-detainer action against Renee Shizue Ramos in Alameda County Superior Court on October 8, 2019. On March 4, 2020, Ramos removed the action to the federal district court, asserting federal-question jurisdiction based on constitutional due-process protections and an equitable right of redemption.

Jurisdictional standard

A defendant may remove a state-court civil action only when the federal district court would have original jurisdiction over it. Federal-question jurisdiction generally requires that a federal issue appear on the face of the plaintiff’s properly pleaded complaint. The defendant bears the burden of showing that removal is proper, and the federal court must remand the case if it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction.

Court’s analysis

The court reviewed the state-court complaint and found that it alleged one unlawful-detainer claim based solely on California law. Ramos argued that the complaint concealed a central constitutional issue. The court rejected that basis for federal jurisdiction, explaining that anticipated defenses or counterclaims—including federal constitutional defenses—do not create federal-question jurisdiction when they do not appear in the plaintiff’s complaint. The court therefore concluded that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction.

Ruling

Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. remanded the action to Alameda County Superior Court. The court denied Ramos’s application to proceed without paying filing fees as moot and directed the Clerk to close the case.