Auto Owners Insurance Company v. Johnson et al

Filing 6

OPINION AND ORDER directing Pla to file an Amended Complaint on or before 11/1/2011 properly alleging the citizenship of Dfts Dennis Johnson d/b/a 260 Motorsport, Anthony Eley and Brittani Bowman. Signed by Magistrate Judge Roger B Cosbey on 10/18/2011. (lns)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
FORT WAYNE DIVISION
AUTO OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY,

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Plaintiff,
v.
DENNIS T. JOHNSON d/b/a
260 MOTORSPORT, ANTHONY ELEY,
and BRITTANI BOWMAN
Defendants.

CAUSE NO. 1:11-CV-358

OPINION AND ORDER
This case was filed in this Court on October 12, 2011, based on diversity jurisdiction
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). (Docket # 1.) The Complaint alleges that Defendants Dennis
T. Johnson, Anthony Eley, and Brittani Bowman are residents of Allen County, Indiana, and
“therefore, [ ] citizen[s] of the State of Indiana.” (Complaint ¶¶ 2-4.)
The Complaint, however, is inadequate. This is because the “residency” of each party is
meaningless for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, as “citizenship is what matters.”1 Guar. Nat’l
Title Co. v. J.E.G. Assocs., 101 F.3d 57, 58-59 (7th Cir. 1996) (explaining that statements
concerning a party’s “residency” are not proper allegations of citizenship as required by 28
U.S.C. § 1332); see 28 U.S.C. § 1332. “It is well-settled that when the parties allege residence
but not citizenship, the court must dismiss the suit.” Held v. Held, 137 F.3d 998, 1000 (7th Cir.
1998) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see generally Smoot v. Mazda Motors of
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For purposes of determining diversity jurisdiction, each party’s citizenship must be articulated as of “the
time of the filing of the complaint,” rather than the date the claims are alleged to have arisen or some other time
material to the lawsuit. Multi-M Int’l, Inc. v. Paige Med. Supply Co., 142 F.R.D. 150, 152 (N.D. Ill. 1992).

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Am., Inc., 469 F.3d 675, 677-78 (7th Cir. 2006). Therefore, as citizenship does not necessarily
equate with residence, Dahlstrom v. Simon, No. 00 C 5189, 2000 WL 1231391, at *1 (N.D. Ill.
Aug. 28, 2000), alleging that Defendants Johnson, Eley, and Bowman are citizens of the State of
Indiana simply because they are residents of Indiana is insufficient.
Therefore, the Court must be advised of each party’s citizenship, not residency. As to
Defendants Johnson, Eley, and Bowman, “[f]or natural persons, state citizenship is determined
by one’s domicile.” Dausch v. Rykse, 9 F.3d 1244, 1245 (7th Cir. 1993); see also Am.’s Best
Inns, Inc. v. Best Inns of Abilene, L.P., 980 F.2d 1072, 1074 (7th Cir. 1992) (“In federal law
citizenship means domicile, not residence.”).
Therefore, Plaintiff is ORDERED to file an Amended Complaint on or before November
1, 2011, properly alleging the citizenship of Defendants Dennis Johnson d/b/a 260 Motorsport,
Anthony Eley, and Brittani Bowman.
SO ORDERED.
Enter for this 18th day of October, 2011.
/S/ Roger B. Cosbey
Roger B. Cosbey,
United States Magistrate Judge

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