Robert Scot Building Venture LLC v. Creative Wealth Media Finance Corp.
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:22-cv-10329
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Robert Scot Building Venture v. Creative Wealth Media, Judge Caproni ordered citizenship allegations or dismissal without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.
The plaintiffs, Robert Scot Building Venture LLC and RSBV Pathway LLC, were required to clarify Jason Cloth’s citizenship or face dismissal of the complaint without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
What happened
Robert Scot Building Venture LLC and RSBV Pathway LLC sued Creative Wealth Media Finance Corp. and Jason Cloth. The complaint claimed that the court had jurisdiction because the parties were citizens of different states or countries.
The complaint alleged that Cloth lived in Ontario, Canada, and did business in New York, but it did not clearly allege his citizenship. The court explained that diversity jurisdiction may not exist if a United States citizen is domiciled outside the United States.
Judge Valerie Caproni ordered the plaintiff to file an amended complaint alleging Cloth’s citizenship by December 13, 2022. If that was not done, the complaint would be dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
The detailed version
- Robert Scot Building Venture LLC v. Creative Wealth Media Finance Corp. · No. 1:22-cv-10329
- Valerie Caproni
- Dec. 9, 2022
Background
Robert Scot Building Venture LLC and RSBV Pathway LLC filed a complaint against Creative Wealth Media Finance Corp. and Jason Cloth. The complaint alleged that the court had diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(2). Diversity jurisdiction is a form of federal jurisdiction based on the parties’ citizenship.
The complaint alleged, “upon information and belief,” that Cloth was an individual residing in Ontario, Canada, and conducting business in New York. The court noted that a United States citizen domiciled abroad is not treated as either a citizen of a U.S. state or a citizen of a foreign state for purposes of this jurisdictional provision. The opinion did not determine Cloth’s citizenship.
Court’s Order
Judge Valerie Caproni ordered the plaintiff to file an amended complaint by Tuesday, December 13, 2022, alleging Cloth’s citizenship. The order stated that the complaint would be dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction if the plaintiff did not do so. The court did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.