Paul Singer v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 8:12-cv-00801

Singer v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is before the court on Wells Fargo's motion to dismiss and Greenlee's motion to remand; proceedings include a prior order regarding jurisdiction remand.
Wells Fargo removed the case to this court based on complete diversity; Greenlee is a California citizen and Wells Fargo's principal place of business is California with a main office in South Dakota.
Controlling law governs national bank citizenship: 28 U.S.C. § 1348 states banks are citizens of states where located, with Schmidt addressing the meaning of located.
There is intra-court disagreement on whether Schmidt and American Surety are reconcilable; the court analyzes authority in the Ninth Circuit.
The court concludes Wells Fargo is a California citizen, so there is no diversity jurisdiction, and remand is appropriate; no federal question jurisdiction exists.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Wells Fargo is a citizen of California for diversity	Greenlee: principal place of business test makes Wells Fargo California citizen	Wells Fargo: main office/state location determination sufficient; contends diversity exists	No diversity; Wells Fargo is California citizen
Whether Schmidt and American Surety are reconcilable for citizenship	American Surety confines Wells Fargo to principal place of business state	Schmidt controls main office location; conflict resolved by reconciling authorities	Schmidt and American Surety are reconcilable; American Surety remains binding authority
Whether federal question jurisdiction exists	State-law claims predominate; no federal claims	Removal to federal court premised on diversity only	No federal question jurisdiction

American Surety Co. v. Bank of California, 133 F.2d 160 (9th Cir. 1943) (bank citizenship limited to principal place of business)
Wachovia Bank v. Schmidt, 546 U.S. 303 (Supreme Court 2006) (national banks are citizens of the state of their main office)