$180 Hourly Rates Certainly Reasonable, With Nothing in Record Showing Abuse of Discretion.
We have seen many homeowners getting stung badly by fee awards in favor of prevailing HOAs, which counsels that parties in HOA disputes try to work things out or go to mediation to avoid big fee run-ups.
In The Mabury Ranch Homeowners Assn. v. Peterson, Case No. G044759 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Jan. 30, 2014) (unpublished), HOA successfully sued homeowner over property maintenance and related issues. Homeowner untimely appealed the merits of the judgment, but did timely challenge a fee award to HOA of $160,000 (out of a requested $235,247).
Homeowner could not surmount the difficult abuse of discretion standard of review. First of all, homeowner incorporated by reference arguments and documents from the lower court proceedings, which is an appellate taboo. (In re Groundwater Cases, 154 Cal.App.4th 659, 690 n. 18 (2007).) Second, the CC&Rs did have a fees provision, which allowed entitlement both under Civil Code section 1717 and Civil Code section 1354(c) (the latter being a specific statutory fee-shifting provision in the HOA area). Third, the $180 hourly rate charged by the HOA attorney, in tandem with the lower court’s reduction of requested fees, certainly put the fee award within the range of reasonableness.
Justice Moore authored the 3-0 opinion on behalf of our local appellate court.