Hai Yang Liu v. 88 Harborview Realty, LLC

5 F. Supp. 3d 443, 2014 WL 1053719
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 12, 2014
DocketNo. 11 Civ. 1033(AT)
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 5 F. Supp. 3d 443 (Hai Yang Liu v. 88 Harborview Realty, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hai Yang Liu v. 88 Harborview Realty, LLC, 5 F. Supp. 3d 443, 2014 WL 1053719 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ANALISA TORRES, District Judge:

Plaintiff, Hai Yang Liu, brings this action against Defendants 88 Harborview Realty, LLC (“Harborview”), Cheung Teung, Yan Zhuang, Jia Xi Qui, Qian He, John Doe 1-X, and Jane Doe 1-X, asserting eleven claims under New York law. Defendant Qian He counterclaims that Plaintiff is not a member of Harborview. Plaintiff moves for partial summary judgment seeking a declaratory judgment that he is a member. Because of unresolved jurisdictional issues, the motion is DENIED without prejudice and the parties are directed to submit supplemental papers.

BACKGROUND

This lawsuit involves a series of disputed real estate transactions and investments in New York City. Plaintiff brings this lawsuit against four individual defendants, up to twenty fictitious “Doe” defendants, and Harborview, a limited liability company (“LLC”), invoking subject matter jurisdiction by reason of diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Plaintiff asserts that he immigrated to the United States from China, and resided in the New York City area during the years leading up to this lawsuit, including at a property he claims to have purchased in Brooklyn, at 2977 Fulton Street. PI. Mot. at 1-3, ECF No. 62. Plaintiff alleges that all defendants, including the Doe defendants, “reside in the City, County and State of New York.” Compl. ¶¶ 4-19.

Despite these New York connections, Plaintiff contends that on February 8, 2011, the date he filed the complaint, he was “a resident of the State of South Carolina.” Id. ¶ 2. Annexed to Plaintiffs moving papers are documents indicating that he resided in Brooklyn or the Bronx when he commenced the action. First, an undated document — which purports to be a roster of Harborview members — lists Plaintiffs address as “2977 Fulton St., # 2/F, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11208.” PL 56.1 Statement Appx., Ex. 4 (the “Membership List”). The Membership List names twenty-five other members of Harborview, some of whom reside in states other than New York — contrary to what Plaintiff alleges in his complaint. Second, Plaintiff submits seven Internal Revenue Service 1065 forms given to him by Harborview, listing partnership income he received for years 2006 through 2012, each of which state that Plaintiff resides at a redacted street address in “Bronx, N.Y. 10451.” Id., Ex. 8.

These documents and the issues raised in Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment compel the Court to address whether it has subject matter jurisdiction over this lawsuit; there are open questions as to Plaintiffs citizenship, Defendants’ citizenship, and the Court’s jurisdiction to adjudicate state law claims between potentially non-diverse parties.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

“The district courts of the United States ... are courts of limited jurisdiction.” Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Servs., Inc., 545 U.S. 546, 552, 125 S.Ct. 2611, 162 L.Ed.2d 502 (2005) (quotation and citation omitted). They only possess jurisdiction over a matter if they have both constitutional authorization under Article [446]*446III and federal statutory authorization. Id. Article III, § 2 of the United States Constitution provides federal courts with original jurisdiction over suits, inter alia, “between Citizens of different States.” Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), “[a] case falls within the federal district court’s original diversity jurisdiction only if diversity of citizenship among the parties is complete, ie., only if there is no plaintiff and no defendant who are citizens of the same State.” Wisconsin Dept. of Corr. v. Schacht, 524 U.S. 381, 388, 118 S.Ct. 2047, 141 L.Ed.2d 364 (1998) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

“Subject-matter jurisdiction can never be waived or forfeited. The objections may be resurrected at any point in the litigation, and a valid objection may lead a court midway through briefing to dismiss a complaint in its entirety.” Gonzalez v. Thaler, — U.S. -, -, 132 S.Ct. 641, 648, 181 L.Ed.2d 619 (2012). Moreover, if a court becomes concerned about its jurisdiction, it has “an independent obligation to ensure that [it] do[es] not exceed the scope of [its] jurisdiction, and therefore [it] must raise and decide jurisdictional questions that the parties either overlook or elect not to press.” Henderson ex rel. Henderson v. Shinseki, - U.S. -, -, 131 S.Ct. 1197, 1202, 179 L.Ed.2d 159 (2011); see also Alliance of Am. Insurers v. Cuomo, 854 F.2d 591, 605 (2d Cir.1988) (stating that “a challenge to subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived and may be raised sua sponte by the district court.”) (citation omitted).

DISCUSSION

At face value, Plaintiffs allegations that he is a citizen of South Carolina and Defendants are citizens of New York are sufficient to establish complete diversity. However, not only are Plaintiffs jurisdictional allegations contradicted by his own documentary evidence, they are insufficient as a matter of law. Although there has been no challenge to the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction in the three years since this lawsuit was filed, the Court cannot overlook these defects, even where “many months of work on the part of the attorneys and the court may be wasted.” Henderson, 131 S.Ct. at 1202.

I. Plaintiffs Domicile

“Plaintiffs bear the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that subject matter jurisdiction exists. [J]urisdietion must be shown affirmatively, and that showing is not made by drawing from the pleadings inferences favorable to the party asserting it.” APWU v. Potter, 343 F.3d 619, 623 (2d Cir.2003) (quotation marks and citations omitted; alteration in original). Whether diversity jurisdiction exists is determined by examining the citizenship of the parties at the time the action is commenced; diversity jurisdiction is not defeated if one party subsequently relocates. Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. v. K N Energy, Inc., 498 U.S. 426, 428, 111 S.Ct. 858, 112 L.Ed.2d 951 (1991).

The determination of a party’s citizenship for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1332 is a mixed question of fact and law. Palazzo ex rel. Delmage v. Corio, 232 F.3d 38, 42 (2d Cir.2000). An individual’s citizenship is determined by his or her domicile. Linardos v. Fortuna, 157 F.3d 945, 948 (2d Cir.1998). A person’s “domicile” is “the place where a person has his true fixed home and principal establishment, and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning.” Id. (quotation marks and citation omitted). At any given time, a person can only have one domicile. Palazzo, 232 F.3d at 42. Residence, alone, is not the equivalent of domicile, although it is prima facie evidence of

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5 F. Supp. 3d 443, 2014 WL 1053719, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hai-yang-liu-v-88-harborview-realty-llc-nysd-2014.