Price

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 MATT HEWITT, No. 2:25-cv-03481-DJC-SCR 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 JENNIFER PRICE, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff Matt Hewitt brought this unlawful detainer action against Defendant Lesa Laatz under California state law on August 25, 2025. (ECF No. 1, Ex. A.) On December 2, 2025, Defendant filed a Notice of Removal in federal court, seeking to remove the action from the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento (Not. of Removal (ECF No. 1).) A district court has “a duty to establish subject matter jurisdiction over the removed action sua sponte, whether the parties raised the issue or not.” United Invs. Life Ins. Co. v. Waddell & Reed, Inc., 360 F.3d 960, 967 (9th Cir. 2004) (emphasis in original). The removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1441, is strictly construed against removal jurisdiction. Geographic Expeditions, Inc. v. Est. of Lhotka, 599 F.3d 1102, 1107 (9th Cir. 2010). It is presumed that a case lies outside the limited jurisdiction of…