CrowdStreet Inc v. BDR Capital LLC

• Court: District Court, W.D. Washington
• Decided: March 30, 2023
• Docket: 2:22-cv-01820
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

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5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 9 10 CROWDSTREET, INC., CASE NO. C22-1820 MJP 11 Plaintiff, ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE 12 v. 13 BDR CAPITAL, LLC, 14 Defendant. 15 16 The Court issues this Order to Show Cause in aid of its subject matter jurisdiction after 17 reviewing Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment (Dkt. No. 10) and the Complaint (Dkt. No. 1). 18 Plaintiff alleges that the Court has diversity jurisdiction over this action because the amount in 19 controversy exceeds $75,000 and the parties are fully diverse. While the Court agrees the amount 20 in controversy exceeds $75,000, it has concerns about the complete diversity of the parties. 21 Plaintiff has filed a corporate disclosure statement, identifying its citizenship of both Delaware 22 and Texas. (Dkt. No. 3.) But the allegations concerning Defendant’s citizenship are inadequate. 23 Specifically, Plaintiff alleges “upon information and belief” that Defendant—an LLC—is a 24 1 citizen of Washington, given that it is a Washington LLC with its principle place of business in 2 Bellevue, Washington. (Compl. ¶ 1.) But for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, an LLC “is a 3 citizen of every state of which its owners/members are citizens.” Johnson v. Columbia Props. 4 Anchorage, LP, 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006). Plaintiff has not alleged any facts about

5 Defendant LLC’s ownership or members. And the Court’s independent review of the 6 Washington Secretary of State’s “corporation search” lists Defendant’s sole governor as “BDR 7 IRREVOCABLE FAMILY TRUST” without identifying the citizenship of this trust. See 8 https://ccfs.sos.wa.gov/#/ (last visited March 30, 2023). The Court therefore ORDERS Plaintiff 9 to SHOW CAUSE how the parties are fully diverse. Plaintiff must file a response within 7 days 10 of entry of this Order. 11 The clerk is ordered to provide copies of this order to all counsel. 12 Dated March 30, 2023. A 13 14 Marsha J. Pechman United States Senior District Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24