Opinion
No. 02 C 3158
May 10, 2002
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Bank One as Trustee has brought this mortgage foreclosure action, relying on diversity of citizenship as the predicate for federal subject matter jurisdiction. This memorandum order is issued sua sponte because Bank One's Complaint for Foreclosure is flawed in that respect.
There is no question that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1332 ("Section 1332"). Nor is there a problem with the identification of both facets of corporate citizenship (see Section 1332(c)(1)) as to both Bank One and the not-for-profit corporate defendant named in Complaint ¶ 2, or with the identification of the Illinois citizenship of the mortgagor defendants (also set out in Complaint ¶ 2). Where the difficulty arises is rather with regard to defendant DJP Development and Consulting, Ltd. ("DJP"), which Complaint ¶ 2 describes as an "Illinois Partnership with its principal place of business in Illinois."
In that latter respect, the principal place of business of a partnership or other unincorporated association is totally irrelevant for diversity purposes, just as is the place of the partnership's formation. Instead the relevant jurisdictional facts depend on the state of citizenship of each member of the partnership, both all of the general partners and any limited partners (Carden v. Arkoma Assocs., 494 U.S. 185 (1990)).
Accordingly Bank One's counsel has failed to carry the burden imposed on every party seeking to invoke federal jurisdiction: the affirmative establishment of every jurisdictional element. That failure could justify the sua sponte dismissal of this action, but to avoid the imposition of the cost of a second filing fee on Bank One if that detect is curable, this Court grants Bank One until May 20, 2002 to file an appropriate amendment to the Complaint in this Court's charters. In the absence of such a curative filing, this Court will be constrained to dismiss the Complaint and this action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.