Nevada v. Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff Barrett R. Bates, a realtor, filed suit under the Nevada False Claims Act (“NFCA”), Nev.Rev.Stat. § 357.010 et seq, against Defendants Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Inc. (“MERS”), Bank of America, N.A., Citi-mortgage, Inc., GMAC Mortgage LLC, Wells Fargo, N.A., as well as a law firm, Cooper Castle, and a trustee at a title company, Stanley S. Silva (collectively, “Defendants”), on behalf of numerous Nevada counties. Bates alleged that Defendants made false representations in naming MERS as a beneficiary in recorded mortgage documents in order to avoid paying recording fees. Defendants removed the case to federal court based on diversity of citizenship. Bates then filed a motion to remand. The district court denied Bates’s motion to remand and dismissed the case, concluding that it had diversity jurisdiction and that Bates failed to state a claim for a violation of the NFCA. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm the district court.

1.As an initial matter, Bates contends that because the State of Nevada is a real party in interest, diversity jurisdiction is defeated and the case should have been remanded to state court. The…