MCALLEN (LN) — U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton granted a motion to remand in Trevino v. PNC Bank N.A. on May 18, sending the case back to the 275th Judicial District Court in Hidalgo County.
The case began when plaintiff Maria Trevino, a Texas citizen, sued PNC Bank N.A., a Pennsylvania corporation, in state court over a foreclosure on her Weslaco property. PNC Bank removed the action to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction.
After removal, Yesenia Aranda and Jose Almaraz moved to intervene, claiming they purchased the property in April 2025. The court granted their motion to intervene under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24, allowing them to assert a common law fraud claim against Trevino and a wrongful-foreclosure claim against PNC Bank.
The intervenors then moved to remand the case, arguing that their citizenship as Texas residents eliminated the complete diversity between Trevino and PNC Bank.
Tipton agreed, noting that 28 U.S.C. Section 1367(b) bars supplemental jurisdiction over claims by persons seeking to intervene as plaintiffs in a diversity case when it would be inconsistent with complete diversity requirements.
Because the intervenors and Trevino are both Texas citizens, the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction.
The court rejected the option of dismissing the intervenors to restore diversity, stating that doing so would impair their ability to protect their interest, which contradicts the standards for intervention under Rule 24.
"The only legally viable and equitable path is to remand the case so that a court of competent jurisdiction may resolve the dispute while taking Intervenors’ interest into account," Tipton wrote.
Neither Trevino nor PNC Bank responded to the intervenors' motion to remand.