Reason Was That Guarantor Guaranteed Orally, Not Assuming The Fee Clause Liability Under The Guaranteed Note With A Written Fees Clause.
In Khodagulyan v. Aminpour, Case No. B270330 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 6, 2018) (unpublished), a cross-complainant was found to be a prevailing party because he had incurred attorney’s fees to collect on a note as against cross-defendants found to have orally guaranteed the note. The lower court awarded cross-complainant $178,255 in fees, jointly and severally against the cross-defendants, based on the fees provision in the note.
All of that fee recovery went POOF! on appeal.
The reason for this reversal was that appealing parties only orally guaranteed the note payment amount, with nothing indicating that they agreed to pay the amount due under the note according to the terms of the note. Simply agreeing to orally guarantee payment did not mean the guarantors agreed also to pay other obligations under the note, including responsibility under the fees clause.