Cases: Landlord/Tenant

Section 1717: Fee Award To Contract Nonsignatory Reversed Because Nonsignatory Cannot Recover Fees On Noncontract Claims

Cases: Landlord/Tenant, Cases: Nonsignatories, Cases: Section 1717

  $49,500 Fee Award Reversed.      Tenant must have felt pretty good after winning $49,500 in attorney’s fees under Civil Code section 1717 after Landlords voluntarily dismissed with prejudice a mixed contract/tort case after Tenant filed a summary judgment claiming that he was not a party to a leasing agreement and that his signature was

Landlord/Tenant; Section 1717: Landlord Substantially Winning Unpaid Rent Suit Garners Fees Of $313,424.45 Even Though Damages Won Only Totaled About $202,411

Cases: Landlord/Tenant, Cases: Section 1717

  Landlord’s Rejection of Equipment Transfer Settlement Offer Did Not Impact Fee Recovery, Because Equipment Transfer Worth Less Than Rental Damages.      In Via Montana, LLC v. Pearson Realty, Inc., Case No. F061975 (5th Dist. Nov. 6, 2012) (unpublished), landlord won a little over $202,411 for unpaid rent and restaurant tenants won $3,550 for a

Landlord/Tenant And SLAPP: Plaintiffs’ Failure To Separately Appeal SLAPP Order Precluded Appellate Review And Defense Entitled To Fee Recovery Under the Mobilehome Residency Law Because Plaintiffs’ Dismissed Complaint Was Based On MRL Violati

Cases: Landlord/Tenant, Cases: SLAPP

  Collateral Order Doctrine and MRL “Arising From” Principles Explored.      In Hall v. West, Case No. D060402 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Oct. 10, 2012) (unpublished), defendants moved to SLAPP plaintiff’s extant complaint, prompting plaintiffs to obtain leave to file a second amended complaint and then dismissing the action without prejudice. The trial court proceeded

Section 1717: Tenant Losing Post-Unlawful Detainer Proceeding Against Landlords Suffers Adverse Fee Award Based On Broad Contractual Fees Clause

Cases: Landlord/Tenant, Cases: Section 1717

  Unlawful Detainer Judgment Was Res Judicata, and Fees Clause Was Broad.      Howard v. Champion, Case No. B234337 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Aug. 15, 2012) (unpublished) is a situation where landlords won a prior unlawful detainer judgment for possession and back rent against tenant, winning a summary judgment where the U.D. judge indicated there

Landlord/Tenant & Civil Rights: Plaintiff Not Entitled To Fee Recovery Under Retaliatory Eviction Or FEHA Fee Shifting Provisions

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Landlord/Tenant

  Published Decision Affirms Lower Court Denial of Fees.      In Morrison v. Vineyard Creek, Case No. A127476 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Mar. 29, 2011) (certified for publication), plaintiff resolved a retaliatory eviction/FEHA dispute via settlement with defendants by which no wrongdoing was admitted but agreed that plaintiff could operate a family child care home

Landlord/Tenant: First District, Division One Invalidates Rent Ordinance Fee Shifting Provision Where It Would Add Fee Recovery In Derogation of Narrow Statute Statutory Fee Shifting

Cases: Landlord/Tenant

  Municipal Ordinances Cannot Add Another Procedural Constraints on State Statutes.      Proposition M, a San Francisco rent ordinance, added an attorney’s fees provision to the San Francisco Rent Ordinance mandating an award of fees to a prevailing tenant in an unlawful detainer case brought under state law except for one narrow exception. The First

Landlord/Tenant: Vexatious Litigant Hit With $176,417 In Fees And Costs Under Retaliatory Eviction Fee-Shifting Provision

Cases: Landlord/Tenant

First District, Division 3 Grants Fees Under CC § 1942.5(g).      Ouch—the sting of attorney’s fees can be harsh. Plaintiff, declared to be a vexatious litigant in a case involving a retaliatory eviction cross-claim, discovered that lesson the hard way.       King v. Nielsen, Case Nos. A124067/A124801 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 29, 2010) (unpublished)

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