The Heritage Bank v. Quinnco Hinesville, LLC et al

Filing 11

ORDER directing plaintiff to file an amended complaint within fourteen days from the date of this order. Accordingly, because plaintiff must file an amended complaint, the re 10 Clerk's Entry of Default is VACATED. Signed by Judge William T. Moore, Jr on 1/21/2015. (loh)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR
THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
SAVANNAH DIVISION

THE HERITAGE BANK,
Plaintiff,
V.

)

CASE NO. CV414-268

QUINNCO HINESVILLE, LLC;
)
CHARLES W. COKER, JR.; MICHAEL )
F.P. MALONEY;
)
Defendants.)

ORDER

ci

(_)

Plaintiff has filed a complaint in this Court eeking
damages for Defendants' alleged breaches of a nu er of
loan agreements. (Doc. 1.) In the complaint, Plaintiff
attempts to invoke this Court's diversity jurisdiction.
(Id. ¶ 7.) However, the jurisdictional allegations
contained in the complaint are insufficient to establish
complete diversity between the parties.
The party invoking this Court's diversity jurisdiction
bears the burden of adequately pleading complete diversity
between the parties. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332; Ray v. Bird
& Son & Asset Realization Co., 519 F.2d 1081, 1082 (5th
Cir. 1975)1 ("The burden of pleading diversity of

1

In Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th
Cir. 1981) (en banc), the Eleventh Circuit adopted as
binding precedent all decisions of the former Fifth Circuit
handed down prior to October 1, 1981.

-

citizenship

is

upon

the

party

invoking

federal

jurisdiction, and if jurisdiction is properly challenged,
that party also bears the burden of proof."). For the
purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a limited liability
company ("LLC") is a citizen of every state in which any of
its members are citizens. Rolling Greens MHP, L.P. v.
Comcast SCH Holdings L.L.C., 374 F.3d 1020, 1021-22 (11th
Cir. 2004). The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has been
explicit in addressing the proper method to allege
sufficiently the citizenship of an LLC: "a party must list
the citizenships of all the members of the limited
liability company." Id. at 1022.
In this case, the complaint does not include a list of
the individual members, along with their citizenship, of
Defendant Quinnco Hinesville, LLC. Rather, the complaint
only states that Defendant Quinnco is a South Carolina
limited liability company with all its members being
residents outside of Georgia. (Doc. 1 ¶ 2.) The complaint
relies on these allegations to advance the general
conclusion that complete diversity exists between the
parties. (Id. ¶ 7.) Such unspecific allegations, however,
are insufficient for Plaintiff to carry its burden of
2

establishing complete diversity between the parties. See
519 F.2d at 1082.
Accordingly, Plaintiff is DIRECTED to file an amended
complaint within fourteen days from the date of this order.
The amended complaint should properly include the
citizenship of each party to this case, specifically the
names and citizenships of each member of Defendant Quinnco
Hinesville, LLC. Accordingly, because Plaintiff must file
an amended complaint, the Clerk's Entry of Default (Doc.
10) is hereby VACATED.
of January 2015.

SO ORDERED this

WILLIAM T. MOORE, J/
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

3