Fifth District Did Not Have To Decide If Indigency Of Plaintiff, An Argument Not Raised Before The Trial Judge, Could Justify A Fee Reduction Under SLAPP Fee Statute.
The plaintiff/appellant in Cruz v. Abdelaziz, Case No. F077506 (5th Dist. May 6, 2020) (unpublished) got SLAPPed and then failed to file an opposition to a defense fee request, resulting in an adverse fee award of $2,510. Plaintiff appealed, principally arguing that his indigency was a factor which was not considered. Although the Fifth District acknowledged that this is a factor for a losing homeowner in a Davis-Stirling Act fee-shifting dispute (Garcia v. Santana, 174 Cal.App.4th 464, 476-477 (2009)), this indigency argument was not raised below and thus was waived, especially given the lack of an opposition by plaintiff. Fee order affirmed.
BLOG COMMENT—Although the case did not involve an HOA dispute, we cross-reference to our topical category “Homeowner Associations” for readers who may need to use the reasoning in Garcia.