RHKids, LLC v. Castle & Cooke Mortgage Services, LLC et al

Filing 22

ORDER that Chase must supplement its statement regarding removal by 2/14/2018; ECF No. 21 is vacated and defendants Castle & Cooke Mortgage Services, LLC and Elkhorn Community Association are reinstated. Signed by Judge Miranda M. Du on 2/9/2018. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - LH)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 8 *** 9 RHKIDS, LLC, Case No. 2:17-cv-01907-MMD-PAL Plaintiff, 10 ORDER v. 11 12 13 CASTLE & COOKE MORTGAGE SERVICES, LLC; ELKHORN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION; AND JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., 14 Defendants. 15 16 Defendant JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA (“Chase”) removed this case from Nevada 17 state court on July 12, 2017, on the basis of diversity jurisdiction.1 (ECF No. 1.) On October 18 18, 2017, this Court issued a notice of intent to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 19 Procedure 4(m) indicating that no proof of service had been filed as to Defendants Castle 20 & Cooke Mortgage Services, LLC (“Castle”) or Elkhorn Community Association (“the 21 HOA”) and giving the parties until November 17, 2017, to file proofs of service with the 22 Court. (ECF No. 20.) No proofs of service were filed in response to the notice. The Court 23 therefore dismissed Castle and the HOA without prejudice on December 28, 2017. (ECF 24 No. 21.) However, in reviewing the briefs and exhibits accompanying Plaintiff’s Motion to 25 Remand (ECF No. 10) and Chase’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 6), the Court has found 26 that proofs of service for Castle and the HOA were filed in this action. (ECF No. 1-2 at 24- 27 28 1Defendant Castle & Cooke Mortgage Services, LLC filed a notice of consent to removal on July 12, 2017. (ECF No. 3.) 1 25; ECF No. 10 at 29.) Therefore, the Court vacates its prior order dismissing Castle and 2 the HOA (ECF No. 21). 3 However, the Court finds that Chase has not met its burden to identify the 4 citizenship of the parties to the action for purposes of removal. Chase asserts: “Upon 5 information and belief, [Castle] is incorporated in the State of Delaware, with its principal 6 place of business in Utah. For diversity purposes, [Castle] is a resident of Delaware and 7 Utah.” (ECF No. 5 at 2.) Castle is an LLC. Although corporations are citizens of any state 8 in which they are incorporated or have their principal place of business, "an LLC is a citizen 9 of every state of which its owners/members are citizens." Johnson v. Columbia Props. 10 Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006). But as “the party asserting diversity 11 jurisdiction[,] [Chase] bears the burden of proof.” Kanter v. Warner-Lambert Co., 265 F.3d 12 853, 857-58 (9th Cir. 2001). Chase has not met its burden. Instead, Chase has yet to 13 identify any members of Castle or clarify whether those members are citizens of different 14 states than Plaintiff. Neither Chase’s petition for removal (ECF No. 1) nor its statement 15 regarding removal (ECF No. 5) satisfies the diversity of citizenship requirement under 28 16 U.S.C. § 1332(a). 17 It is therefore ordered that Chase must supplement its statement regarding removal 18 with a document that identifies the state citizenships of each member of Defendant Castle 19 & Cooke Mortgage Services, LLC. Chase must file the supplement within five (5) days of 20 the date of this Order. 21 It is further ordered that the Court’s prior order dismissing Castle & Cooke Mortgage 22 Services, LLC and Elkhorn Community Association (ECF No. 21) is vacated and that both 23 parties are reinstated as defendants in this action. 24 DATED THIS 9th day of February 2018. 25 26 27 MIRANDA M. DU UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 28 2

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