HOA, on Remand, Will Get to Renew Request for $252,767 in Defense Fees. Here is an interesting one where an appellate court reversed the denial of a fee award as an abuse of discretion. The reason: HOA clearly prevailed when plaintiff dismissed 8 of 10 claims (some of them based on a fee-shifting
Actions Involved Enforcement of CC&Rs, With Trial Court Reasonably Awarding a Lodestar Amount After Reductions. Yet again, we have a homeowner-HOA dispute resulting in substantial fee awards against a homeowner and in favor of two set of defendants. Seltzer v. Eugene Burger Management Assn., Case No. A128552 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Oct. 19,
Justice Bedsworth, Always Colorful, Pens this Colorful Homeowner-HOA Decision Over No Less Than Tree Trimming to Preserve Ocean Views. Okay, in Orange County, litigators of homeowner-HOA disputes see a lot of disputes involving homeowners who do not want to trim trees and HOAs which want them trimmed to preserve ocean views for other
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 In Chacon v. Brookhurst Village Condominium Assn., Case No. G043984 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 29, 2011) (unpublished), plaintiff homeowners were found to be the prevailing parties in an HOA dispute over a board election.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
