Cases: Homeowner Associations

    $89,387.50 Was Fee Recovery, With Trial Court Correctly Apportioning After Passage Of City Resolution.        Although technically not a HOA case, we post under this category because it involved an adjacent property owner in the City of Palm Desert suing another neighbor for having noncompliant construction plans under the HOA’s CC&Rs. The […]

  6th DCA Reverses Lower Court Denial Of Pre-Litigation Fees Based On ADR Statutory Provision.     In Rice v. Rancho Palm Grande Homeowners Assn., Case No. H038763 (6th Dist. Sept. 1, 2015) (unpublished), HOA defeated a homeowner’s assessment challenge under the governing CC&Rs and the Davis-Stirling Act fee-shifting provision (Civil Code former section 1354(c)).  The

  Plaintiffs Sought To Create Precedence, Litigated Vigorously, Should Have To Bear The Fee Tab.      This one is truly frightening and shows why fee shifting is a potential game changer in litigation.      Plaintiffs were condo owners who also engaged in short term renting, deciding to challenge enforcement of certain HOA regulations imposing fees

  Civil Code Former Section 1354(c) Fee-Shifting Provision At Issue—Mutuality Principles Applied to Insure “Prevailing Party” Obtains Fees.      The California Supreme Court has extended application of mutuality principles outside of Civil Code section 1717 to prevailing homeowner defendants in common interest development (CID) enforcement suits brought by non-prevailing homeowner associations in Tract 19051 Homeowners

  All This Over Short-Term Rental Regulations Involving A Little Over $10,000 In Total Delinquencies.      This next case is somewhat frightening for all litigants and practitioners—no matter what substantive areas you practice in. It does echo our “Mission Statement,” which we have referenced many times but will not boar our steady readers with again.

  $164,474.50 Fee Recovery Denial Affirmed On Appeal.      Patterson v. Sherwood Valley Homeowners Assn., Case No. B254446 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Jan. 6, 2014) (unpublished) demonstrates that the theory of the case may well determine whether fee entitlement for or against a party is in order.      In this one, HOA won a tree

  HOA Practically Prevailed Even Though Eventually Dismissing Case Without Prejudice.      Homeowner in Sungate Country Owners Assn. v. Stephens, Case No. E055751 (4th Dist., Div. 2 May 28, 2014) (unpublished) may have thought he was safe from fee exposure after HOA dismissed its case without prejudice after winning a preliminary injunction relating to unauthorized