Frenstad v. 1933 Lyndale LLC

Background

Gary Frenstad began the lawsuit in state court against 1933 Lyndale LLC, Charles Theros, and James Theros. He later filed a notice of removal seeking to move the case to federal court.

Reasons for Remand

The court identified two problems with the attempted removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a):

1. Frenstad was the plaintiff, not a defendant. Section 1441(a) permits a civil action to be removed by the defendant or defendants. The court held that Frenstad therefore was not authorized to remove the case.

2. Federal jurisdiction was not established. Frenstad stated that 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), the diversity-jurisdiction statute, provided a basis for federal jurisdiction. Diversity jurisdiction generally requires every plaintiff to be a citizen of a different state from every defendant. The court found that Frenstad provided no factual allegations establishing the citizenship of 1933 Lyndale LLC or Charles Theros. The court also noted that allegations describing Frenstad as a Minnesota resident and James Theros as not a Minnesota resident were technically insufficient because residence is not necessarily citizenship; for diversity purposes, citizenship means domicile. The court further found that the face of the operative pleading did not present a federal question.

Disposition

Because the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction, it applied 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), which requires remand before final judgment when the court lacks that jurisdiction. The court ordered that the matter be REMANDED to the State of Minnesota Fourth Judicial District. The opinion did not decide the underlying claims.