DEFENDANT'S REMOVAL NOTICE Page 1 of 4 

Case No 5:20-cv-00316; Michelle Phillips v. Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 

SAN ANTONIO DIVISION 

MICHELLE PHILLIPS, § 

§ 

plaintiff, § 

§ 

v. § Case No. 5:20-cv-00316 

§ 

SHELLPOINT MORTGAGE § 

SERVICING, § 

§ 

defendant. § 

DEFENDANT'S REMOVAL NOTICE

Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing removes Michelle Phillip's state court action to this court 

pursuant to 28 USC §§ 1332 and 1441. 

I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE 

On February 28, 2020, Ms. Phillips sued Shellpoint in the 150th judicial district of Bexar 

county, Texas in the case styled Michelle Phillips v. Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing and assigned 

cause number 2020-CI-04188. (orig. pet., Ex. 1.) Ms. Phillips sues to prevent Shellpoint from 

foreclosing on 6823 Cypress Mist, Converse, Texas, which was scheduled for March 3, 2020. (org. 

pet. p. 3, Ex. 1.) She asserts a common law fraud claim and seeks actual damages, pre- and postjudgment interest, court costs and injunctive relief. (org. pet. p. 3, Ex. 1.) 

II. BASIS FOR DIVERSITY JURISDICTION 

The court may exercise diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 USC § 1332(a) because the 

parties are completely diverse and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. 

A. The parties are citizens of different states. 

Diversity jurisdiction exists if there is "complete diversity between all named plaintiffs and 

all named defendants, and no defendant is a citizen of the forum State." See Lincoln Prop. Co. v. 

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Case No 5:20-cv-00316; Michelle Phillips v. Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing

Roche, 546 U.S. 81, 84 (2005). The real parties in interest are diverse. Ms. Phillips is Texas citizen 

because she resides in Bexar County, Texas. (orig. pet. p. 1, Ex. 1.) See Preston v. Tenet 

Healthsystem Mem'l Med. Ctr., 485 F.3d 793, 797-98 (5th Cir. 2007). 

Shellpoint is an assumed name of NewRez LLC fka New Penn Financial LLC. (assum. 

name cert., Ex. 12; amd. reg., Ex. 13.) NewRez LLC is a Delaware and New York citizen. NewRez 

LLC is a Delaware limited liability company. The citizenship of a limited liability company is 

determined by the citizenship of each of its members. Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 

1077, 1080 (5th Cir. 2008). NewRez LLC has one member. Its sole member is Shellpoint Partners 

LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. Shellpoint Partners LLC has two members (1) NRM 

Acquisition LLC and (2) NRM Acquisition II LLC, both of which are Delaware limited liability 

companies. They each have just one member. New Residential Mortgage LLC, a Delaware limited 

liability company, is the sole member of both NRM Acquisition LLC and NRM Acquisition II 

LLC. New Residential Mortgage LLC has one member. Its sole member is New Residential 

Investment Corp., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in New York. 

B. The amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. 

When a defendant removes on the basis of diversity jurisdiction, the amount in controversy 

may be established by the specific "good faith" sum demanded by the plaintiff in its state court 

petition. 28 USC § 1446(c)(2). If the plaintiff does not state the amount of damages it seeks, the 

burden falls on the removing defendant to prove the value of the plaintiff's claims. See St. Paul 

Reinsurance Co., Ltd. v. Greenberg, 134 F.3d 1250, 1253 (5th Cir. 1998). The removing defendant 

must "establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeds 

$75,000." Manguno v. Prudential Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 276 F.3d 720, 723 (5th Cir. 2002). This 

requirement can be satisfied if the defendant shows "(1) it is apparent from the face of the petition 

that the claims are likely to exceed $75,000, or, alternatively, (2) the defendant sets forth 'summary 

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Case No 5:20-cv-00316; Michelle Phillips v. Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing

judgment type evidence' of facts in controversy that support a finding of the requisite amount." Id. 

(citing Simon v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 193 F.3d 848, 850 (5th Cir. 1999); Allen v. R & H Oil & 

Gas Co., 63 F.3d 1326, 1335 (5th Cir. 1995)). 

"In actions seeking declaratory or injunctive relief the amount in controversy is measured by 

the value of the object of the litigation." Leininger v. Leininger, 705 F.2d 727, 729 (5th Cir. 1983); 

Farkas v. GMAC Mortg., LLC, 737 F.3d 338, 341 (5th Cir. 2013) (per curiam); see also Nationstar 

Mortg., LLC v. Knox, 351 Fed. App'x 844, 848 (5th Cir. 2009) ("[w]hen . . . a right to property is 

called into question in its entirety, the value of the property controls the amount in controversy") 

(quoting Waller v. Prof'l Ins. Corp., 296 F.2d 545, 547-48 (5th Cir. 1961)). 

The object of this litigation—Ms. Phillip's home—is valued at $150,245 by the Bexar 

Central Appraisal District. (Bexar Cty. appraisal dist. report, Ex. 11.) See e.g., Hernandez v. 

Residential Accredit Loans Inc., Mortg. Asset-Backed Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007-QS3, 

No. H-18-0724, 2018 WL 4033785, *3 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 23, 2018) (citing appraisal district report as 

evidence, held "[b]ecause plaintiffs . . . seek a declaration that the lien is void, and because the 

current market value of the property is $290,091,19 the amount in controversy exceeds the 

jurisdictional minimum of $75,000.") The amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, and the court 

may exercise diversity jurisdiction over this action. 

III. PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS SATISFIED 

Removal is timely under 28 USC § 1446(b) because it is filed within thirty days of 

Shellpoint's receipt of the complaint, through service or otherwise. Venue is proper in this court 

because the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas embraces the place in 

which the state court action was pending. 28 USC § 1441(a). Notice has been sent to the state 

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Case No 5:20-cv-00316; Michelle Phillips v. Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing

court regarding this removal. Pursuant to 28 USC § 1446(a), a true and correct copy of all of the 

process, pleadings, and orders on file in the state court action are attached as exhibits 1-8. 

IV. CONCLUSION 

The parties are completely diverse, and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. This 

court may exercise diversity jurisdiction over this action. 

Date: March 13, 2020 Respectfully submitted, 

 /s/ Michael J. McKleroy, Jr. 

Michael J. McKleroy, SBN: 24000095 

michael.mckleroy@akerman.com 

 --Attorney in Charge 

C. Charles Townsend, SBN: 24028053 

charles.townsend@akerman.com

AKERMAN LLP 

2001 Ross Avenue, Suite 3600 

Dallas, Texas 75201 

Telephone: 214.720.4300 

Facsimile: 214.981.9339 

Monica Summers, SBN: 24083594 

monica.summers@akerman.com 

AKERMAN LLP 

112 East Pecan Street, Suite 2750 

San Antonio, Texas 78205 

Telephone: 210.582.0220 

Facsimile: 210.582.0231 

ATTORNEYS FOR SHELLPOINT 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I certify I served this document on March 13, 2020 as follows: 

Ramon S. Rodriguez, Jr. 

Rodriguez & Garza, P.L.L.C. 

247 W. Olmos Dr., Suite 200 

San Antonio, Texas 78212 

VIA EMAIL rsrjr04@hotmail.com 

AND CERTIFIED MAIL RECEIPT 

NO. 9414 7266 9904 2165 8797 48 

 /s/ Monica Summers 

Monica Summers 

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