Garine Depoyan v. State Farm General Insurance Company ( 2024 )

1 HEATHER M. McKEON, ESQ.; STATE BAR NO.: 186414 Email: hmckeon@tharpe-howell.com 2 SARAH J. REYNOLDS, ESQ.; STATE BAR NO.: 299510 Email: sreynolds@tharpe-howell.com 3 THARPE & HOWELL, LLP JS-6 4 15250 Ventura Blvd., Ninth Floor Sherman Oaks, California 91403 5 (818) 205-9955; (818) 205-9944 fax 6 Attorneys for Defendant, STATE FARM GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – WESTERN DIVISION 10 11 GARINE DEPOYAN, an individual, Case No. 2:24-cv-04690-FMO(RAOx) 12 Plaintiffs, [LASC Case No.: 24NNCV01375] 13 v. Complaint Filed: October 26, 2023 14 STATE FARM GENERAL SO TR ID PE UR L AG TR IA ON NT [I 1N 6]G T T OH RE E P MA AR NT DIE TS O’ 15 I eN ntS itU y;R aA nN d C DE O EC SO 1M tP oA 5N 0,Y in, ca l ub su is vi en .e ss STATE COURT 16 Defendants. [ SC tao tn e c Cu orr ue rn t]tl y filed with Stipulation to Remand to 17 District Judge Fernando M. Olguin 18 Magistrate Judge Rozella A. Oliver 19 The Court, having read and considered the parties’ Stipulation to Remand, 20 hereby ORDERS as follows: 21 I. BACKGROUND 22 On May 3, 2024, GARINE DEPOYAN (“Plaintiff”) filed a Complaint for 23 breach of contract and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing against STATE 24 FARM GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY (“State Farm” OR “Defendant”) in the 25 Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. 26 24NNCV01375, related to a water loss that occurred on or about December 13, 2022, 27 at Plaintiff’s residence located at 554 N. Chester Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91106. On 28 June 5, 2024, State Farm timely removed this matter to the United States District Court 1 for the Central District of California pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332, and 1441. 2 1. On or about July 26, 2024, Plaintiff agreed that her damages are 3 capped at $75,000.00. Because Plaintiff’s damages are capped $75,000.00, at the 4 parties agree that the amount in controversy no longer exceeds and cannot exceed the 5 sum of $75,000.00 and, accordingly, the United States District Court for the Central 6 District of California no longer has subject matter jurisdiction over this case. 7 Accordingly, the parties request an order remanding the case to the Los Angeles 8 County Superior Court of California, Case No. 24NNCV01375. 9 II. ANALYSIS 10 United States Code, Title 28, Section 1447(c), provides that “[i]f at any time 11 before final judgment it appears that the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, 12 the case shall be remanded.” (Emphasis added). Because the amount in controversy 13 does not exceed the sum of $75,000.00, this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction and 14 must, therefore, remand the case to state court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). See 15 Bruns v. NCUA 122 F.3d 1251, 1257 (9th Cir. 1997) (“Section 1447(c) is mandatory, 16 not discretionary.”) 17 III. ORDER OF THE COURT 18 Based on the foregoing, this Court ORDERS that: 19 1. As the amount in controversy is not and cannot be more than $75,000.00 20 this Court will no longer have subject matter jurisdiction and this case, Federal Case 21 No. 2:24-cv-04690-FMO (RAOx), is hereby remanded to the Superior Court for the 22 State of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. 24NNCV01375. 23 2. All pending dates in the Federal action are hereby vacated. 24 3. Plaintiff cannot obtain damages greater than $75,000.00, if any, in her 25 lawsuit against State Farm, under either Case No. 2:24-cv-04690-FMO (RAOx) or 26 Case No. 24NNCV01375. 27 /// 28 /// 1 4. This Order shall be accorded full force and effect in the Superior Court 2 of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. 24NNCV01375. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 5 Dated: August 12, 2024 /s/ 6 HON. FERNANDO M. OLGUIN 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28