Opinion
Case No. 8:13-cv-708-T-30AEP
03-26-2013
GRAYDON R. BOLES, pro se, Plaintiff, v. ASSOCIA COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS, INC., Defendant.
ORDER
THIS CAUSE comes before the Court sua sponte. On March 20, 2013, pro se Plaintiff Graydon R. Boles filed a "Notice of Removal from State Court" (Dkt. 1). This removal was improper and must be remanded because a plaintiff cannot remove a case.
Title 28 of the United States Code, section 1446, establishes the procedure for removal of civil actions and vests the right to remove state court civil actions in a defendant or defendants. See 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a) (noting that "any civil action brought in a State court of which the district courts of the United States have original jurisdiction, may be removed by the defendant or the defendants") (emphasis added); Geiger v. Arctco Enterprises, Inc., 910 F.Supp. 130, 131 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) (noting that "the right of removal is vested exclusively in defendants").
Based on the record before the court, Boles is not a named defendant in the underlying state court action. Accordingly, he does not have standing to remove the action.
It is therefore ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that:
1. The Clerk of Court is directed to remand this action to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida, in and for Hillsborough County, Florida, and provide that court with a copy of this Order.
2. The Clerk of Court is directed to close this case and terminate any pending motions as moot.
DONE and ORDERED in Tampa, Florida on March 26, 2013.
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JAMES S. MOODY , JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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