Warren E. Brown Tenants' Council v. Virgin Islands Hous. Auth.

• Decision Date: 03 June 1980
• Docket Number: Civil No. 377-79
• Citation: 17 V.I. 486
• Parties: WARREN E. BROWN TENANTS' COUNCIL, Plaintiff v. VIRGIN ISLANDS HOUSING AUTHORITY, Defendant
• Court: U.S. District Court — Virgin Islands

17 V.I. 486

WARREN E. BROWN TENANTS' COUNCIL, Plaintiff v. VIRGIN ISLANDS HOUSING AUTHORITY, Defendant

Civil No. 377-79

District Court of the Virgin Islands Div. of St. Thomas and St. John

June 3, 1980

Motions by landlord to vacate an entry of default and to transfer the cause to the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands in an action for injunctive and declaratory, relief arising from alleged improper notice of a rent increase. The District Court, Christian, Chief Judge, held that since the Territorial Court had original jurisdiction over all civil actions in which the amount in controversy did not exceed $500 and the tenants' claims could not be aggregated, the District Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction.BRENDA J. HOLLAR, ESQ., St. Thomas, V.I., for plaintiff

IVE A. SWAN, ESQ., Attorney General of the Virgin Islands, Donald V. Kane, Esq., Assistant Attorney General, St. Thomas, V.I., for defendant

CHRISTIAN, Chief Judge

MEMORANDUM

This action for injunctive and declaratory relief is before the Court on motions of defendant Virgin Islands Housing Authority (hereinafter VIHA) to vacate an entry of default, Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b), and to transfer the cause to Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands. 4 V.I.C. § 77 (Supp. 1979). Plaintiff Warren E. Brown Tenants' Council cross-moves for summary judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Since the Court will find that it lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action, the entry of default will be vacated and the case will be dismissed.

The matter arises out of an attempt by VIHA, the landlord of the members of plaintiff, to adjust rents at the Warren E. Brown Apartments beginning November 1, 1979. In response, plaintiff filed suit seeking a declaration that VIHA had failed to properly notify the tenants of these rent increases and an injunction prohibiting the allegedly wrongful notice in the future. It is unclear from the pleadings whether or not the proposed rent increases ever went into effect.

Plaintiff's complaint was filed on December 11, 1979. The Clerk of the Court entered the default of VIHA on January 16, 1980. VIHA did not file an Answer until January 19, 1980. Thus, the first question the Court must address is the propriety of vacating the entry of default. As a preliminary matter, however, the question ofjurisdiction must be raised since the default is premised on the Court having jurisdiction.

[1] Plaintiff, as earlier mentioned, here seeks declaratory and injunctive relief. Yet subject matter jurisdiction cannot be conferred solely on the basis of the remedies sought. Instead, there must be an independent basis for jurisdiction. See Ragoni v. United States, 424 F.2d 261 (3d Cir. 1970) (declaratory judgment); Gilman v. Government, Civ. No. 79-162 (D.V.I. Nov. 30, 1979) (declaratory judgment); Peterson v. Sears, 238 F.Supp. 12 (N.D. Iowa 1964) (injunction); Moses Taylor Lodge No. 95 v. Delaware, L. & W. R. Co., 39 F.Supp. 456, 457 (M.D. Pa. 1941) (injunction). Thus, the Court must determine whether such an independent basis for jurisdiction exists.

[2-5] The District Court has general original jurisdiction in all causes in the Virgin Islands where exclusive jurisdiction is not conferred on the Territorial Court. 4 V.I.C. § 32. The Territorial Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction "of all civil actions wherein the matter in controversy does not exceed the sum or value of $500, exclusive of interest and costs." 4 V.I.C. § 75(1) (Supp. 1979). Since none of the rent increases at issue exceed $250 per month, the amount of rent increase involved at the time of suit was...