Shelter Mutual Insurance v. Gregory

555 F. Supp. 2d 922, 69 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1236, 101 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 571, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1963
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 8, 2008
DocketNo. 3:07-0112
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 555 F. Supp. 2d 922 (Shelter Mutual Insurance v. Gregory) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shelter Mutual Insurance v. Gregory, 555 F. Supp. 2d 922, 69 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1236, 101 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 571, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1963 (M.D. Tenn. 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

JOHN T. NIXON, Senior District Judge.

Two (2) dispositive motions are pending before the Court in the above-captioned matter. Defendant Robert H. Gregory (“Gregory”) filed a Motion to Dismiss (Doc. No. 12) to which Plaintiff Shelter Mutual Insurance (“Plaintiff’ or “Shelter”), and Defendant United States of America (“United States” or “Government”) each filed a Response in Opposition (Doc. Nos. 16 and 18). The United States has also filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 32), to which Gregory has filed a Response (Doc. No. 34). The Gov[924]*924ernment subsequently filed a Reply to Gregory’s Response (Doc. No. 44).

For the reasons stated herein, Defendant Gregory’s Motion to Dismiss is DENIED and Defendant United States’ Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I.Factual Overview and Procedural History

Defendant Robert Gregory owns a dwelling located in Davidson County, Tennessee that was insured under policy # 41-73-3573878-4 issued by Plaintiff with a dwelling coverage limit of $173,000.00. After the dwelling was damaged by fire in September 2006, Gregory submitted an insurance claim to Shelter in the amount of $173,000.00 for the fire damage and a claim for $3,600.00 for loss of rental income. Through the course of the investigation of the fire loss, however, Plaintiff learned that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien with the Register of Deeds for Davidson County, Tennessee on February 10, 2005 against all property and rights to property belonging to Gregory due to unpaid tax assessments for 1997,1998, 1999, and 2001. (See Doc. No. 8-1.) Gregory subsequently informed Shelter in writing of his objection to any payment made from the policy proceeds to the IRS. (See Doc. Nos. 8-2, 31.)

Plaintiff concedes that a total of $176,900.00 is payable under Gregory’s insurance policy, but remains uncertain whether that sum is payable to Gregory and/or the IRS due to the tax lien. Accordingly, on January 25, 2007, Plaintiff brought an interpleader action against Gregory and the United States before this Court to resolve the adverse claims to the property, and to discharge Plaintiff from any liability to the Defendants. (Doc. No. 1.) Plaintiffs original Interpleader Complaint (“Original Interpleader Complaint”) stated generally that the case was brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2410,1 and alleged that this Court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter was based on diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332,2 as well as 28 U.S.C. § 1346.3 (Id.)

On January 30, 2007, Magistrate Judge Knowles (“Magistrate Judge”) filed a Report and Recommendation that this action be dismissed without prejudice because this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the case based on Plaintiffs claim of diversity of citizenship. (Doc. No. 7.) The Magistrate Judge reasoned that 28 U.S.C. § 1332 cannot apply in the present inter-pleader action because the United States cannot be sued in diversity, as it is not a citizen of any state. (Id.); see also Gen. Ry. Signal Co. v. Corcoran, 921 F.2d 700, 703 (7th Cir.1991); Koppers Co., Inc. v. Carling & Langlois, 594 F.2d 1094, 1097 n. 1 (6th Cir.1979). The Magistrate Judge also found 28 U.S.C. § 1346 inapplicable to the instant case, noting that the statutory provision provides federal district courts [925]*925with original jurisdiction for certain classes of cases, none of which applied to the instant matter. See 28 U.S.C. § 1346. Further, the Magistrate Judge stated that to the extent Plaintiff relied on 28 U.S.C. § 2410 to establish jurisdiction, such reliance was misplaced as “that statute is merely a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the United States, which allows the United States to be named as a Defendant in certain circumstances” but first requires that the court have proper jurisdiction of the subject matter, which remained absent in this case. (Doc. No. 7.)

Three (3) days after the filing of the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation and prior to the filing of any responsive pleadings, Plaintiff filed an Amended Interpleader Complaint (“Amended Interpleader Complaint”), this time specifying that the interpleader action was brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) 22, and alleging subject matter jurisdiction based on the presence of a federal question rather than diversity.4 According to Plaintiffs Amended Interpleader Complaint, federal question jurisdiction is created through 26 U.S.C. §§ 6321,5 7403,6 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1340.7 (Doc. No. 8.) Gregory filed a Motion to Dismiss on March 14, 2007, alleging that dismissal of the Amended Interpleader Complaint was appropriate for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. (Doc. No. 12); Fed. R.CrvP. 12(b).

The Government, thereafter, filed a counterclaim against Shelter and a cross-claim against Gregory, both pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §§ 7401-7403. The Government alleges in its Amended Answer, Counterclaim and Cross-Claim that it has valid and subsisting federal tax liens on all Gregory’s property and rights to property as a result of his unpaid federal income taxes, interest and penalties from years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003, totaling $139,656 as of March 26, 2007. Further, the Government asserts that Gregory failed to pay his tax liabilities for years 2004 and 2005, resulting in an additional amount owed as of June 29, 2007 of $74,297. The Government seeks an Order [926]*926from the Court: (a) declaring that the United States has valid and subsisting federal tax liens on Gregory’s property and rights to property, including the $176,900 of insurance proceeds held by Plaintiff; (b) determining that Gregory has a tax liability for the years 2004 and 2005; and (c) foreclosing the federal tax liens for tax years 1997,1998,1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003 and the judgment liens for tax years 2004 and 2005 against the insurance proceeds held by Plaintiff. (Doc. No. 29.)

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jenkins v. Dahlby
N.D. Ohio, 2025
United States v. Pacheco
D. Puerto Rico, 2024
Bituminous Casualty Corp. v. Walden Resources, LLC
672 F. Supp. 2d 835 (E.D. Tennessee, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
555 F. Supp. 2d 922, 69 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1236, 101 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 571, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1963, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shelter-mutual-insurance-v-gregory-tnmd-2008.