RICHARD W. STORY, District Judge.
This case comes before the Court on Defendant African Methodist Episcopal Church, Inc.'s ("AME") Motion to Dismiss Counts 4 and 5, or Alternatively, Motion for More Definite Statement [14]. After a review of the record, the Court enters the following Order.
Plaintiff GTAS Asset Solutions, LLC ("GTAS") filed this action on April 4, 2011, asserting that Defendants Morris Brown College ("Morris Brown") and the AME Church conspired to "shield Morris Brown's assets from legitimate creditors, including Plaintiff." Cmpl., Dkt. No. [1] at ¶ 10. AME has now moved to dismiss Counts 4 and 5 (fraud and civil conspiracy) on the grounds that these fraud-based claims do not satisfy Rule 9(b)'s more stringent pleading standard and fail to state a claim under 12(b)(6). Dkt. No. [14].
Complaints that allege fraud must meet the heightened pleading standards of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b), which requires that in alleging fraud the circumstances constituting fraud must be stated with particularity. "Rule 9(b) may be satisfied if the complaint sets forth: (1) precisely what statements were made in what documents or oral representations or what omissions were made, and (2) the time and place of each such statement and the person responsible for making (or, in the case of omissions, not making) same, and (3) the content of such statements and the manner in which they misled the plaintiff, and (4) what the defendants obtained as a consequence of the fraud."
As an initial matter, in its Response Brief, Plaintiff has abandoned all fraudulent-misrepresentation allegations and states that its fraud claim is solely based upon AME's failure "to disclose its intent to acquire the 2005 Capital Notes, or that it had acquired the 2005 Capital Notes in April 2006" during negotiations held between March and August 2006. Pl.'s Opp., Dkt. No. [29] at 10. However, even limiting Plaintiff's fraud claim to just that omission, Plaintiff has not satisfied this Circuit's Rule 9(b) pleading requirements.
Plaintiff admits "[t]he Complaint does not specify the place of AME's omission; nor does it identify a specific person who failed to disclose AME's acquisition of the 2005 Capital Notes." Pl.'s Opp., Dkt. No. [29]. But Plaintiff argues that this failure is not critical and cites to three district courts of other circuits for the proposition that fraud pleading standards as to place and person should be relaxed for an omission claim.
While that may be true in other circuits, the Eleventh Circuit requires the Plaintiff to plead both the place of the omission and the alleged actor unless there are additional documents in the record which, along with the complaint, provide sufficient notice of the fraud.
In its motion, AME seeks dismissal of Counts 4 and 5, or alternatively, a more definite statement. The Court will not dismiss the claims at this time, but will afford Plaintiff an opportunity to address the shortcomings of the pleadings by filing an amended complaint providing a more definite statement of its claims in Counts 4 and 5.
Defendant AME's Motion to Dismiss [14-1] is