Thompson v. Washington Mutual

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 SAN JOSE DIVISION 11 12 STEVEN THOMPSON, et al., ) Case No.: C 09-5385 PVT ) 13 Plaintiffs, ) ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE TO THE ) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 14 v. ) ) 15 WASHINGTON MUTUAL, ) ) 16 Defendant. ) ___________________________________ ) 17 18 On April 15, 2010, this court issued an order to show cause why the case should not be 19 transferred to either the Western District of Washington or the District of Columbia. Plaintiffs 20 responded and expressed a preference for transfer to the District of Columbia. Plaintiffs have since 21 amended their complaint to specifically name the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) 22 as a named Defendant. Based on the file herein, 23 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this case is hereby transferred to the United States District 24 Court for the District of Columbia. 25 Transfer to the District of Columbia is warranted because under the Financial Institutions 26 Reform and Recovery Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) Plaintiffs may sue the FDIC only in the 27 district court for the district within which the depository institution’s principal place of business is 28 located (in this case the Western District of Washington), or else the United States District Court for ORDER, page 1 1 the District of Columbia. See, 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(6)(A). Because this court lacks jurisdiction over 2 Plaintiffs’ claims, it must either dismiss the case, or transfer it to a court in which the action could 3 have been brought at the time it was filed. See FED .R.CIV .PRO . 12(h)(3); and 28 U.S.C. § 1631. It 4 appears from the complaint that, at the time this case was filed, it could have been brought in either 5 the Western District of Washington or the District of Columbia. Thus, transfer to one of those courts 6 rather than dismissal appears to be warranted. See 28 U.S.C. § 1631 (“Section 1631”) (providing 7 for transfer of an action to another district in the interest of justice when the action could have been 8 brought in that district at the time it was filed). 9 Dated: 9/13/10 10 PATRICIA V. TRUMBULL 11 United States Magistrate Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDER, page 2 1 2 copies mailed on 9/13/10 to: 3 Steven Thompson Post Office Box 92214 4 Henderson, NV 89009 5 Aster Kifle-Thompson Post Office Box 92214 6 Henderson, NV 89009 7 /s/ Donna Kirchner 8 DONNA KIRCHNER Judicial Law Clerk 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDER, page 3