Opinion
4:23-cv-00695-MTS
05-26-2023
TWAIN GL XXV, LLC Plaintiff, v. JEFFREY AHLHOLM, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
MATTHEW T. SCHELP UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter is before the Court on review of the file. The Court notes that Plaintiff's Complaint, Doc. [1], has failed to establish this Court's subject matter jurisdiction for multiple reasons. Compare Doc. [1] ¶ 1 (providing no allegations on LLC's members), and id. ¶ 4 (alleging there are three members of LLC but then referencing only two), with GMAC Com. Credit LLC v. Dillard Dep't Stores, Inc., 357 F.3d 827, 829 (8th Cir. 2004) (holding, for diversity jurisdiction purposes, that an LLC's citizenship is the citizenship of all its members). Compare also, Doc. [1] ¶¶ 2-4 (alleging only where individuals are “resident[s]”), with Hargett v. RevClaims, LLC, 854 F.3d 962, 965 (8th Cir. 2017) (“A complaint or notice of removal resting on residency . . . will not establish citizenship for diversity jurisdiction. This rule is not new.” (internal citation omitted)), and Reece v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon, 760 F.3d 771, 777-78 (8th Cir. 2014) (“Because of this ambiguity in the word ‘resident'-as compared to ‘citizen' and the unambiguous ‘reside'-we cannot satisfy ourselves that diversity jurisdiction is proper based solely on an allegation a party is (or was) a ‘resident' of a particular state.”).
See Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77, 94 (2010) (“Courts have an independent obligation to determine whether subject-matter jurisdiction exists, even when no party challenges it.”).
While Plaintiff did write elsewhere that it and Defendants are “citizens of different states,” Doc. [1] ¶ 5, that conclusion cannot, on its own, suffice. See Villareal v. B&C Contracting Specialist Inc., 4:19-cv-2851-RLW, 2020 WL 2088341, at *3 (E.D. Mo. Apr. 30, 2020) (“To establish complete diversity of citizenship, a complaint must include factual allegations of each party's state of citizenship.” (emphasis added)); OHM Hotel Grp., LLC v. Dewberry Consultants, LLC, 4:15-cv-1541-CAS, 2015 WL 5920663, at *2 (E.D. Mo. Oct. 9, 2015) (finding “insufficient” the statement that none of LLC's members were citizens of the opposing-party's state of citizenship).
If Plaintiff can establish this Court's subject matter jurisdiction, it must file an Amended Complaint that does so no later than June 05, 2023 . See Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(1). Failure to do so will result in dismissal of this action without prejudice. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(h)(3).
So ordered.