Calle Naranjo, LLC v. Hotel Paraiso Campestre, S.A. DE C.V.
- Alvin Hellerstein
- 1:19-cv-07849
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Calle Naranjo v. Hotel Paraiso was dismissed for missing jurisdiction allegations, with leave to amend, by Judge Hellerstein.
Calle Naranjo, LLC must amend its complaint to allege an adequate basis for federal jurisdiction if it wishes to continue the action. The defendants are affected because the complaint was dismissed, and the pending motion for alternative service was terminated.
What happened
Calle Naranjo, LLC sued two companies and an individual to enforce a foreign money judgment under New York law. It claimed the federal court could hear the case because the parties were citizens of different states or countries.
The court found that Calle Naranjo did not identify the members of its limited liability company. Without that information, the court could not determine whether complete diversity existed.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction, with leave to file an amended complaint within 30 days. He also terminated the motion to serve the defendants by alternative means, allowing the plaintiff to renew that motion if it files a complaint establishing jurisdiction.
The detailed version
- Calle Naranjo, LLC v. Hotel Paraiso Campestre, S.A. DE C.V. · No. 1:19-cv-07849
- Alvin Hellerstein
- Dec. 4, 2019
Background
Calle Naranjo, LLC brought an action to enforce a foreign money judgment against Hotel Paraiso Campestre, S.A. DE C.V.; GMP, S.A. de C.V., Recursos y Administracion Integrales, S.A. de C.V.; and Gabriel Maldonado Pumarejo. The opinion describes the first two defendants as Mexican companies and the individual defendant as residing in Mexico. Calle Naranjo relied on Article 53 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules, which governs recognition and enforcement of foreign money judgments. It asserted that the federal court had subject-matter jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship.
Jurisdictional Defect
For diversity jurisdiction, the citizenship of a limited liability company is determined by the citizenship of each of its members. The complaint identified Calle Naranjo as a limited liability company but did not identify its individual members. Because of that omission, the court could not determine whether complete diversity existed.
Ruling
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction, with leave to file an amended complaint alleging an adequate jurisdictional basis within 30 days of the order's issuance. The court also directed the Clerk to terminate Calle Naranjo's pending motion to serve the defendants by alternative means. The court stated that, if Calle Naranjo files a complaint establishing jurisdiction, it may renew that motion.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.