Young v. Annanias & Sapphira Investors Group et al

Filing 5

ORDER that by January 25, 2017, Plaintiff shall file a supplement to the complaint properly alleging federal subject matter jurisdiction or this case will be dismissed, without prejudice, for lack of jurisdiction. Signed by Senior Judge James A Teilborg on 1/3/17. (LSP)

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1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Steven K Young, Plaintiff, 10 11 ORDER v. 12 No. CV-16-04545-PHX-JAT Annanias & Sapphira Investors Group, et al., 13 14 Defendants. 15 Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. As a result, they can hear only 16 those cases that the Constitution and Congress have authorized them to adjudicate: 17 namely, cases involving diversity of citizenship, a federal question, or cases to which the 18 United States is a party. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377 19 (1994). The party asserting jurisdiction bears the burden of proving a jurisdictional basis 20 exists. Id. In this case, because Plaintiff filed his suit in federal district court, he must 21 show that the federal court is authorized to hear the case. 22 In the complaint, Plaintiff claims jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal 23 question jurisdiction). Doc. 1 at 4. However, none of Plaintiff’s three causes of action 24 (slander of title, quiet title, or declaratory relief) presents a federal question. 25 Plaintiff also alleges jurisdiction based on 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (diversity 26 jurisdiction). Id. However, Plaintiff fails to sufficiently plead diversity jurisdiction. 27 Specifically, Plaintiff fails to allege a principal place of business for either corporate 28 Defendant. See Hertz Corp. v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77, 80, 92-93 (2010) (discussing the 1 citizenship of a corporation). 2 Based on the foregoing, 3 IT IS ORDERED that by January 25, 2017, Plaintiff shall file a supplement to the 4 complaint properly alleging federal subject matter jurisdiction or this case will be 5 dismissed, without prejudice, for lack of jurisdiction. 6 Dated this 3rd day of January, 2017. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -2-

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