Homeowners Failure to Participate in ADR Only Impacted Fee Award Amount, Which Was Not Challenged Properly. In Chacon v. Brookhurst Village Condominium Assn., Case No. G043984 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 29, 2011) (unpublished), plaintiff homeowners were found to be the prevailing parties in an HOA dispute over a board election. A lot […]
Third District Issues Important Decision in the CC&R Enforcement Area. The Third District in Ferwerda v. Bordon, Case No. C062389 (3d Dist. Mar. 25, 2011) (certified for partial publication on the fee issue) has decided an important case with respect to enforcing attorney’s fees clauses contained in unrecorded CC&R enforcement documents and manuals. In
Defendant Not Entitled to Fees Where Contractually-Based Complaint Voluntarily Dismissed And Not Entitled to Costs Under Discretionary Prevailing Party Provision. Homeowner association (HOA)/homeowner disputes have resulted in us doing a fair amount of posts under our category “Homeowner Associations.” Here is one more to add to the list, with a homeowner seeking $64,572.84
Trial Court’s Significant Reductions in Requested Fees Obviated Need to Apportion With Mathematical Precision. The next case illustrates a result we see often in appellate decisions when apportionment of fees is necessary as between compensable and noncompensable claims: a lower court’s reduction of fee requests obviates the need to perform a CPA-like audit of
Section 1354 Only Applies in Homeowner-Homeowner Association Disputes. The scope of Civil Code section 1354, which permits homeowner associations and homeowners to recover attorney’s fees in actions to enforce an HOA’s governing documents, was at issue in the next case out of our local Santa Ana appellate court. In Chen v. Association Lien
Second District, Division 6 Finds Intervenor Was In Same Position As Parties to the Lawsuit for Fee Shifting Purposes. Here is a case involving an interven0r for our category “Intervenors”–a category that we have not posted on for some time. The case is Larson v. Las Posas Hills Homeowners Assn., Case No. B219066 (2d
Second District, Division 1 Finds No Abuse of Discretion in Various Fee Awards. It is amazing how ocean views, privacy, and trees all seem to be in the mix of many neighbor/homeowner association disputes. The next one is no exception, producing substantial cross-fee awards under Civil Code section 1354 that probably only made the
Fourth District, Division 1 Sees No Error in Individual Assessment. In San Diego Country Estates Assn., Inc. v. Ward, Case No. D055182 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Nov. 22, 2010) (unpublished), an HOA and homeowner (a trustee of his revocable inter vivos trust) got embroiled in a retaining wall construction dispute in which trustee was
Second District, Division 2 Finds Settlement Stipulation Allowed for 1717 Fee Recovery. In Duenas v. Fraccionamiento Villas Del Mar, S.A., Case No. B219112 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Sept. 30, 2010) (unpublished), parties to a Baja California condominium dispute settled, reached a stipulation that all issues but a note payment issue in favor of plaintiff—including
Block Billing Per Se Will Not Tank a Fee Request. Under our category "Homeowner Associations," we have reviewed numerous decisions where homeowners or HOAs feel the sting of "victory or defeat," even if ABC’s famous "World of Sports" mantra was not directly in play. Well, we have another one to share with you—where
