DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR IXIS REAL ESTATE CAPITAL TRUST 2005- HE4 MORTGAGE PASS THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005-HE4 v. LINDSEY et al

Filing 8

ORDER denying Plaintiff's 7 Motion for Default Judgment. ORDERED that Plaintiff will be granted leave to file an amended complaint within 14 days of this Order. ORDERED that if Plaintiff fails to file an amended complaint the Clerk shall close this case. Signed by Chief Judge Jerome B. Simandle on 5/31/2013. (TH, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST
COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR IXIS
REAL ESTATE CAPITAL TRUST 2005
- HE4 MORTGAGE PASS THROUGH
CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005-HE4,

HON. JEROME B. SIMANDLE
Civil No. 13-2040 (JBS/JS)
ORDER

Plaintiff,
v.
LORRAINE LINDSEY and RAYMOND
LINSEY,
Defendants.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's motion for
entry of default judgment against Defendants Lorraine Lindsey and
Raymond Lindsey [Docket Item 7].

However, the Court has reviewed

the Complaint filed in the above captioned matter [Docket Item 1]
and has found that it asserts that the Court has jurisdiction
under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, but it fails to properly plead the
statutory requirement of diversity of citizenship.

See 28 U.S.C.

§ 1332; Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(1).
In particular, the Plaintiff is suing in its capacity as
trustee and the Complaint alleges that "Plaintiff Deutsche Bank
is a national banking association with its main place of business
located in the State of California."

(Compl. ¶ 1.)

It is

unclear from this allegation whether Plaintiff is a corporation,
an unincorporated association or a trust.

If Plaintiff is a

corporation, it is well established that a corporation is

considered a citizen of both the state of its incorporation and
the state of its principal place of business.

The Complaint here

fails to allege the Plaintiff's principal place of business or
its state of incorporation.

See Hunt v. Acromed, 961 F.2d 1079,

180, 1082 n.7 (3d Cir. 1992)(explaining that a complaint must
allege both a corporation's state of incorporation and its
principal place of business to properly allege citizenship and
establish diversity jurisdiction).
unincorporated association,

If Plaintiff is an

a complaint must allege the

citizenship of all the partners or members of the entity to
determine whether diversity exists.
494 U.S. 185, 195-96 (1990).

Carden v. Arkoma Assocs.,

If Plaintiff is a trust, the Third

Circuit considers the citizenship of both the trust and the
beneficiaries in certain circumstances.

Emerald Investors Trust

v. Gaunt Parsippany Partners, 492 F.3d 192, 205 (3d Cir. 2007).
Consequently, Plaintiff's vague allegation that is an
"association" with its main place of business in California is
insufficient to establish citizenship for diversity jurisdiction,
especially considering Plaintiff is suing in its capacity as
trustee.
Since the Plaintiff has failed to properly plead diversity
of citizenship, the Court does not have the requisite
jurisdiction to enter default judgment.

Therefore, Plaintiff's

motion for default judgment will be denied.

2

The Plaintiff will

be given fourteen (14) days from the entry of this order to file
an amended complaint which properly sets forth the basis for this
Court's jurisdiction.
Accordingly,
IT IS this

31st

day of May, 2013 hereby

ORDERED that the Plaintiff's motion for default judgment
[Docket Item 7] is DENIED, and it is
ORDERED that the Plaintiff will be granted leave to file an
amended complaint which sets forth an adequate basis for this
Court's jurisdiction within fourteen (14) days of this order; and
it is further
ORDERED that if the Plaintiff fails to file an amended
pleading within fourteen (days) the Clerk shall close this case
upon the docket.

s/ Jerome B. Simandle
JEROME B. SIMANDLE
Chief U.S. District Judge

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