United States Sixth Circuit

In a public nuisance action against Deutsche Bank Trust Company and affiliated companies in connection with twenty-five vacant properties in and around Cleveland owned by defendant, claiming that the bank's business practices place homes in a "post foreclosure death spiral", district court's grant of plaintiff's motion to remand based on Burford abstention is affirmed in part, vacated in part and remanded where: 1) district court properly realigned the city as a plaintiff and properly held there is complete diversity between the parties for purposes of subject matter jurisdiction; 2) district court properly satisfied itself of its subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. section 1332; 3) there is no error in district court's holding that plaintiff has standing to prosecute this action in federal court; but 4) district court's remand order is vacated as Burford abstention is not warranted as state interests are outweighed by the strong federal interest in affording foreign litigants a neutral forum for the adjudication of state law claims against them, and plaintiff has failed to show that its complaint presents such extraordinary circumstances as to come within that narrow exception to the exercise of federal jurisdiction represented by Burford abstention.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/30/2010
• Decided 09/20/2010
• Published 09/20/2010

Judges

• McKEAGUE

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Allyson N. Ho, Thomas C. Wagner