Numa Barnes v. Homeward Residential, Inc.;

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
NUMA BARNES,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
HOMEWARD RESIDENTIAL, INC.; et
al.,
Defendants - Appellees.
No. 13-17510
D.C. No. 3:13-cv-03227-SC
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California
Samuel Conti, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted February 24, 2016**
Before: LEAVY, FERNANDEZ, and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges.
Numa Barnes appeals from the district court’s judgment dismissing her
action alleging raising federal and state law foreclosure-related claims. We have
jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a district court’s
FILED
MAR 03 2016
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

-- 1 of 2 --

dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on the basis of res
judicata. Stewart v. U.S. Bancorp, 297 F.3d 953, 956 (9th Cir. 2002). We vacate
and remand.
In dismissing this action on the basis of res judicata, the district court
applied the standard used to analyze the preclusive effect of prior federal court
judgments. However, “[u]nder 28 U.S.C. § 1738, federal courts are required to
give state court judgments the preclusive effects they would be given by another
court of that state.” Brodheim v. Cry, 584 F.3d 1262, 1268 (9th Cir. 2009). Unlike
the federal courts, “which apply a ‘transactional nucleus of facts’ test, ‘California
courts employ the primary rights theory to determine what constitutes the same
cause of action for claim preclusion purposes.’” Id. (citation omitted).
Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s judgment and remand for the district
court to determine in the first instance the preclusive effect to be given Barnes’s
prior California state court action under the correct standard.
The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.
VACATED and REMANDED.
13-17510 2

-- 2 of 2 --