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 v. Stephens, Case No. E055751 (4th Dist., Div. 2 May 28, 2014) (unpublished) may have thought he was safe from fee exposure after HOA dismissed its case without prejudice after winning a preliminary injunction relating to unauthorized construction activities and after he/his mother sold the lot. However, HOA successfully moved for and was awarded $13,482.50 under former mandatory Civil Code section 1354(c) (now renumbered as Civil Code section 5975(c) starting in 2014), even though it incurred more than $30,000 in actual attorney expenses. [BLOG OBSERVATION—Notice that the voluntary reduction in requested fees happened to be a smart move, with the lower court awarding all of the request.]
Homeowner did not win his appeal of the fee award.
Homeowner had no statutory right to continuance of a fee award as a matter of right, given that he had an opportunity to consult an attorney but chose to go as an in pro per. HOA was indeed the prevailing party, given that former 1354 is mandatory in nature and involves CC&R enforcement, which was at issue in relation to homeowner’s construction. HOA prevailed on the “practical level,” achieving its litigation objective of getting homeowner to sell his lot so as to moot the unauthorized construction activity dispute. Santisas, a Civil Code section 1717 case disallowing fee recovery for pretrial dismissals [one of our Leading Cases], did not apply to 1354. (Heather Farms Homeowners Assn. v. Robinson, 21 Cal.App.4th 1568, 1572 (1994).)