Fourth District, Division 3 Finds Nothing Wrong With “Joint and Several” Judgment.
Plaintiff sold its property and assigned its rights under a lease with a particular tenant to another company becoming a co-plaintiff in an unlawful detainer action eventually won by defendant tenant. There was a fees clause, with the lower court awarding over $46,000 in attorney’s fees “jointly and severally” against both plaintiffs under Civil Code section 1717.
Plaintiff property seller appealed, arguing that it had sold the property such that it was not a rightful party to the unlawful detainer proceeding.
Wrong, said the Fourth District, Division 3 in Generation III Investments, LLC v. R&R Corp., Case No. G041988 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Feb. 25, 2010) (unpublished), a 3-0 decision authored by Justice Rylaarsdam.
The lower court’s “joint and several” award was proper because plaintiff seller initiated the U.D. suit, remained a plaintiff after conveying the property to buyer, and had judgment entered against it as well as buyer. Because plaintiff buyer stayed in the action, it was a losing plaintiff that was subject to an adverse award of costs and fees.