Monica Helm v. Eastgate Associates et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA SHREVEPORT DIVISION MONICA HELM CIVIL ACTION NO. 25-cv-2036 VERSUS JUDGE S. MAURICE HICKS, JR. EASTGATE ASSOCIATES ET AL MAGISTRATE JUDGE HORNSBY MEMORANDUM ORDER Plaintiff Monica Helm filed a Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement (Doc. 22) and alleged that she is “an individual and resident of the State of Louisiana.” It is domicile rather than mere residency that decides citizenship for diversity purposes, and “an allegation of residency alone ‘does not satisfy the requirement of an allegation of citizenship.’” Midcap Media Finance, LLC v. Pathway Data, Inc., 929 F.3d 310, 313 (Sth Cir. 2019), quoting Strain v. Harrelson Rubber Co., 742 F.2d 888, 889 (Sth Cir. 1984). A person may reside in multiple states simultaneously, but “[a]n individual who resides in more than one State is regarded, for purposes of federal subject-matter (diversity) jurisdiction, as a citizen of but one State.” Wachovia Bank v. Schmidt, 126 S. Ct. 941, 951 (2006). That is the state in which the person is domiciled. Id.; Acridge v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc., 334 F.3d 444, 451 (Sth Cir. 2003).

Plaintiff must file, no later than April 9, 2026, an amended Diversity Jurisdiction Disclosure Statement that specifically alleges the state in which she is domiciled.

THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Shreveport, Louisiana, this 2nd day of April, 2026.

Mark L. Hornsby