Markwell v. Equitybuild, Inc dba EB Equitybuild Capital, Inc et al

Filing 43

ORDER OF REMAND entered. This case is remanded to the 165th JDC of Harris County. Case terminated on 7/27/18. Certified copy mailed to 165th JDC Judge Ursula Hall.(Signed by Chief Judge Lee H Rosenthal) Parties notified.(leddins, 4)

United States District Court
Southern District of Texas

ENTERED
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
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Plaintiff,
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v.
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EQUITYBUILD, INC. D/B/A EQUITYBUILD §
CAPITAL, et al.,
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Defendants.
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July 27, 2018
David J. Bradley, Clerk

ANSON MARKWELL,

CIVIL ACTION NO. H-18-1274

ORDER TO REMAND
This removed case arises from an investment dispute. At a July 19, 2018 hearing, the court
ordered Equitybuild to file a verified affidavit setting out the relevant jurisdictional facts, including
its principal place of business, where its officers live, and where it conducts most of its business.
(Docket Entry No. 38). Jerry Cohen, Equitybuild’s president, filed an affidavit setting out those
facts. (Docket Entry No. 41). Several of the defendants are limited liability companies and Cohen’s
affidavit lists the members of those LLCs.1
Federal courts are “courts of limited jurisdiction, having ‘only the authority endowed by the
Constitution and that conferred by Congress.’” Halmekangas v. State Farm Fire and Cas. Co., 603
F.3d 290, 292 (5th Cir. 2010) (citations omitted). Federal diversity jurisdiction requires an amount
in controversy over $75,000 and complete diversity between the parties. 28 U.S.C. § 1332. For
diversity-jurisdiction purposes, “the citizenship of a LLC is determined by the citizenship of all of
its members.” Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., 542 F.3d 1077, 1080 (5th Cir. 2008).

1

Jerry Cohen’s affidavit did not include jurisdictional information for Shaun Cohen, Equitybuild’s
vice president and a defendant in this case. Shaun Cohen’s biography on the Equitybuild website states that
“Shaun Cohen, the president of EquityBuild Finance and vice president of EquityBuild, resides in Texas with
his wife and three children.” https://equitybuild.com/about-us.

Anson Markwell, the plaintiff, is a Texas citizen. (Docket Entry No. 1). Defendants SSDF4
6250 S. Mozart, LLC; SSDF 701 5th, LLC; SSDF4 7024 S. Paxton, LLC; and SSDF4 7255 S.
Euclid, LLC, are limited liability companies with the same members, which are set out in a
spreadsheet attached as Exhibit A to Cohen’s affidavit. Many of the listed members are Texas
citizens. (Docket Entry No. 41, Ex. A). Cohen’s affidavit also states that SSPH Portfolio 1, LLC’s
“members are Jerry Cohen, Ran Barth, and Kendall Chenier. Mr. Barth resides in Plano, Texas.”
(Docket Entry No. 41 at 3). For diversity-jurisdiction purposes, these limited liability company
defendants are Texas citizens because they have members who are Texas citizens. Markwell, the
plaintiff, and the limited liability company defendants are Texas citizens. Complete diversity is
absent, the court lacks jurisdiction, and the case is remanded to the 165th District Court.
SIGNED on July 27, 2018, at Houston, Texas.
______________________________________
Lee H. Rosenthal
Chief United States District Judge

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