Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 12-cv-0320
06-04-2012
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION v. RANCHO BOSSIER SP, LLC, ET AL
JUDGE FOOTE
MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Plaintiff filed this action based on an assertion of diversity jurisdiction. The complaint appears to adequately allege citizenship with respect to Plaintiff and one of the defendants, but additional information is needed with respect to Rancho Bossier CP, LLC.
The complaint identifies that defendant as a limited liability company. The citizenship of an LLC is determined by the citizenship of all of its members. If the members are themselves partnerships, LLCs, corporations, or other form of entity, their citizenship must be alleged in accordance with the rules applicable to that entity, and the citizenship must be traced through however many layers of members or partners there may be. Burford v. State Line Gathering System, LLC, 2009 WL 2487988 (W.D. La. 2009); D.B. Zwirn Special Opportunities Fund, LP v. Mehrotra, 661 F.3d 124 (1st Cir. 2011).
Paragraph four of the complaint alleges that Rancho Bossier CP, LLC has two members, one of which is a limited partnership and the other an LLC. Adequate information regarding the LLC member is provided, but additional information about the limited partnership member (Rancho Price Plaza, LP) is needed to ascertain the existence of diversity.
The citizenship of a limited partnership is that of all of its partners, both general and limited. Carden v. Arkoma Associates, 110 S.Ct. 1015 (1990); Mullins v. Test America, Inc., 300 Fed. Appx. 259 (5th Cir. 2008). The complaint identifies the general partner and adequately alleges its citizenship, but it does not name any limited partners. Specific allegations regarding the partners is required, even when there may be thousands of them. Moran v. Gulf S. Pipeline Co., L.P., 2007 WL 276196 (W.D. La. 2007).
Plaintiff is directed to file by June 22, 2012 a Motion for Leave to Amend the Complaint and allege with specificity the identity and citizenship of the limited partners in Rancho Price Plaza, LP. Defendants are encouraged to promptly respond to any request for information about the identity and citizenship of the limited partners so that this preliminary issue may be resolved promptly and without undue expense. If the amended complaint establishes the existence of diversity, the court will soon afterward direct the exchange of initial disclosures and hold a scheduling conference.
THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 4th day of June, 2012.
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MARK L. HORNSBY
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE