Gullas v. Chhaya Community Development Corporation

Background

Cecilia Gullas, proceeding without a lawyer, sued Chhaya Community Development Corporation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The opinion states that Chhaya is a social service agency located in Queens, New York, and that Gullas resides in Queens. Gullas alleged that Chhaya violated federal housing laws by failing to represent her during an eviction proceeding in a Queens County housing court.

Venue analysis

The court applied the general federal venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). That statute generally permits a civil action where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, in limited circumstances, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction.

The court concluded that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York under the first two provisions because Gullas did not allege that either defendant resided there or that a substantial part of the events occurred there. The complaint instead showed that Gullas visited Chhaya’s offices in Queens and that the eviction proceedings occurred in a Queens County housing court. The court determined that Queens County is within the Eastern District of New York and that venue was proper there.

Disposition

Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), the statute allowing transfer when venue is improper. The court stated that the transferee court would decide whether Gullas could proceed without prepaying fees. The court directed that no summons issue from the Southern District, stated that the order closed the case there, and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith; it therefore denied fee-free status for an appeal. The opinion did not decide the merits of Gullas’s housing-law allegations.