Miley v. Carrington Mortgage Services LLC

Filing 2

NOTICE AND ORDER: Defendant shall have seven (7) days from the date of this Notice and Order to file a Motion to Substitute the 1 NOTICE OF REMOVAL, without further leave of court, with a purposed pleading that affirmatively alleges the citiz enship of the parties, specifically including affirmative allegations regarding the domicile of Plaintiff and the domicile of the individuals who are members of the various limited liability companies within the chain of Defendants members. Signed by Magistrate Judge Erin Wilder-Doomes on 3/21/2017. (LLH)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
TRENT MILEY
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO. 17-143-JWD-EWD
CARRINGTON MORTGAGE
SERVICES, LLC
NOTICE AND ORDER
On March 15, 2017, defendant, Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC (“Defendant”) filed a
Notice of Removal based upon complete diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332.1
The Notice of Removal alleges that “[i]n the Petition, Plaintiff alleges that he is a
domiciliary of the State of Louisiana.”2 However, Plaintiff’s Petition for Damages alleges only
that Plaintiff is “a resident of the lawful age of majority of the Parish of Livingston, State of
Louisiana.”3 “For diversity purposes, citizenship means domicile, mere residence in the State is
not sufficient.” Mas v. Perry, 489 F.2d 1396, 1399 (5th Cir. 1974).
Defendant recognizes that its citizenship, as a limited liability company, “is determined by
the citizenship of all its members.”4 See also, Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077,
1080 (5th Cir. 2008). To properly allege the citizenship of a limited liability company, a party
must identify each of the members of the limited liability company and the citizenship of each
member in accordance with the requirements of § 1332(a) and (c). The same requirement applies
to any member of a limited liability company which is also a limited liability company. See,
Turner Bros. Crane and Rigging, LLC v. Kingboard Chemical Holding Ltd., 2007 WL 2848154,
at *4-5 (M.D. La. Sept. 24, 2007) (“when partners or members are themselves entities or

1

R. Doc. 1.
R. Doc. 1, ¶ 15.
3
R. Doc. 1-1.
4
R. Doc. 1, ¶ 16.
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associations, the citizenship must be traced through however many layers of members or partners
there may be, and failure to do [sic] can result in dismissal for want of jurisdiction.”) (quotation
and citation omitted). Here, Defendant alleges:
Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC’s sole member is Carrington
Mortgage Holdings, LLC….Carrington Mortgage Holdings, LLC’s
members are Carrington Holding Company, LLC…and a private
individual who is not a citizen of Louisiana. Carrington Holding
Company, LLC’s sole member is The Carrington Companies,
LLC….The Carrington Companies, LLC members are two private
individuals who are not citizens of Louisiana. Therefore, Carrington
Mortgage Services, LLC is not a citizen of Louisiana.5
“When jurisdiction is based on diversity, we adhere strictly to the rule that citizenship of
the parties must be ‘distinctly and affirmatively alleged.’” Mullins v. Testamerica, Inc., 300 Fed.
Appx. 259, 259 (5th Cir. 2008) (quoting Getty Oil, Div. of Texaco v. Ins. Co. of North America,
841 F.2d 1254, 1259 (5th Cir. 1988)). This court has previously held that “allegations phrased in
the negative are insufficient.” Truxillo v. American Zurich Ins. Co., 2016 WL 6987127, at * 6
(M.D. La. Oct. 24, 2016) (citing Constance v. Austral Oil Exploration Co., Inc., 2013 WL 495779,
at * 3 (W.D. La. Feb. 3, 2013)). See also, Compass Bank v. Sun Valley Motor Hotel, Ltd., 2014
WL 12605575, at * 2 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 21, 2014) (“the Getty Oil court did not require negative
allegations of corporate citizenship; it condemned them.”). Accordingly, Defendant’s allegations
that members of the limited liability companies set forth above are individuals who are not citizens
of Louisiana are insufficient. Instead, Defendant must affirmatively allege the citizenship of each
individual via a positive allegation of that individual’s domicile.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant, Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC, shall
file a Motion to Substitute the Notice of Removal with a proposed Notice of Removal that

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R. Doc. 1, ¶ 16.

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affirmatively alleges the citizenship of the parties, specifically including affirmative allegations
regarding the domicile of Plaintiff (whether based on information and belief or otherwise) and the
domicile of the individuals who are members of the various limited liability companies within the
chain of Defendant’s members. Defendant shall have seven (7) days from the date of this Notice
and Order to file the Motion to Substitute without further leave of court.
Signed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on March 21, 2017.

S
ERIN WILDER-DOOMES
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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