David Rentz v. Tristen Hart, et al.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA NORTHERN DIVISION DAVID RENTZ, * * Plaintiff, * * CIVIL ACTION NO. 26-00005-KD-B vs. * * TRISTEN HART, et al., * * Defendants. *

ORDER This action is before the Court on review of the amended disclosure statement filed by Defendant EDKO, LLC (Doc. 9). On January 21, 2026, the Court ordered EDKO, LLC to file an amended disclosure statement that adequately identified EDKO, LLC’s citizenship for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction. (Doc. 7).

The Court’s order emphasized: [T]o sufficiently identify the citizenship of an unincorporated entity or association such as a limited liability company, a party must identify each member of the LLC and the citizenship of that member. See Rolling Greens MHP, L.P. v. Comcast SCH Holdings L.L.C., 374 F.3d 1020, 1022 (11th Cir. 2004) (per curiam). If one of the LLC’s members is another unincorporated entity, that entity’s members (or partners, as the case may be) must also be identified, along with the citizenship of each member or partner of that entity. See Purchasing Power, LLC v. Bluestem Brands, Inc., 851 F.3d 1218, 1220 (11th Cir. 2017). And, if a member or partner of an unincorporated entity is a natural person, that person’s state of citizenship must be identified, not his state of residency. See Taylor v. Appleton, 30 F.3d 1365, 1367 (11th Cir. 1994). (Id. at 1-2). Thus, the Court informed EDKO, LLC that its amended disclosure statement needed to (i) specifically identify the members or partners of EDKO, LLC and all other relevant entities as members or partners of those entities and (ii) identify the citizenship (not the residency) of each of those members or partners. (Id. at 2).

The amended disclosure statement filed by EDKO, LLC fails to comply with the Court’s order. (See Doc. 9). First, the disclosure statement indicates (apparently incorrectly) that EDKO, LLC is a corporation.1 (Id. at 2). Second, the disclosure statement continues to improperly speak in terms of ownership instead of properly identifying each member of EDKO, LLC and each member or partner of the various other unincorporated entities listed. As best the Court can discern, EDKO, LLC is a limited liability company, yet the disclosure statement fails to specifically identify each member of EDKO, LLC. While the disclosure statement arguably suggests that the sole member of EDKO, LLC is another limited liability company (EDKO Intermediate Holdings, LLC), it fails to specifically identify each member of EDKO Intermediate Holdings, LLC as a member of that limited This contradicts Defendants’ notice of removal, which identifies EDKO, LLC as a limited liability company. (See Doc. 1 at 3). It is also inconsistent with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s online business entity records, which reflect that EDKO, LLC is a limited liability company, not a corporation. See https://coraweb.sos.la.gov/commercialsearch/CommercialSearchDeta ils.aspx?CharterID=364950_46321282D8#viewFile (last visited Jan.

26, 2026). liability company. Additionally, the disclosure statement confusingly lists EDKO Holdings LLC in the ownership chain in response to Question 1 but then fails to mention EDKO Holdings LLC (much less identify its member(s) and their state(s) of citizenship) in response to Question 2. Finally, the disclosure statement does not specifically identify the partners (as opposed to the owners) of Incline Equity Partners, nor does it identify those individuals’ state(s) of citizenship (as opposed to residency).

Accordingly, Defendant EDKO, LLC is ORDERED to file a second amended disclosure statement on or before January 30, 2026, which (i) specifically identifies the limited liability company member(s) of EDKO, LLC as members of the LLC; (ii) specifically identifies the members or partners of all other relevant unincorporated entities as members or partners of those entities, see Purchasing Power, LLC, 851 F.3d at 1220; and (iii) identifies the state citizenship (not residency) of each natural person whose citizenship is relevant to determining the citizenship of Defendant EDKO, LLC for diversity purposes. Defendant must use this Court’s standard disclosure statement form, which can be found on the Court’s external website.2

2 https://www.alsd.uscourts.gov/sites/alsd/files/forms/CivilDisclosureStatement.pdf ORDERED this 27th day of January, 2026. /s/ SONJA F. BIVINS UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE