Fees Appropriately Awarded Against Landlord’s Agents Under Two Statutes.
Civil Code section 798.85 of the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) and Civil Code section 799.78 of the Recreational Vehicle Park Occupancy Law (RVPOL) both contain fee shifting provisions stating that a “prevailing party shall be entitled” to attorney’s fees “[i]n any action arising out of the provisions of this chapter ….”
In Booze v. West Coast Mobile Home Parks, Case Nos. A122758/A122767 (1st Dist., Div. 2 Apr. 22, 2010) (unpublished), a mobilehome tenant won damages against mobile park owners and managers as well as persons conducting lien sales for the owners/managers. One of the main statutory interpretation questions confronted was this: do the MRL and RVPOL fee shifting statutes apply to persons other than just the mobile park owners (the landlords)? The trial court felt they did, awarding winning tenant $60,000 in fees as against all the defendants (including managers and other agents).
On appeal, the First District, Division 2 agreed.
The appellate court found that the plain language in the statutes is not limited in application to just landlords and tenants. Also, a broad interpretation of the fee shifting provisions furthered the legislative purpose to give tenants some protections in the mobilehome/RV arenas.
Although noting that dicta in SC Manufactured Homes, Inc. v. Canyon View Estates, Inc., 148 Cal.App.4th 663, 680 (2007) suggested the MRL fee provision applied only to landlord and tenants, the Booze court found it distinguishable but also expressly disagreed with the dicta to the contrary. (Slip Opn., pp. 13-14; see also People v. McKale, 25 Cal.3d 626, 638-639 (1979) [bank entitled to fee recovery under MRL].)