Appealability, Consumer Statutes, Deeds Of Trust: Borrower’s Appeal of Trial Court’s Denial Of Fees To Borrower Winning Preliminary Injunction Under California Homeowner Bill Of Rights Was Dismissed

 

Borrower Appealed From A Nonappealable Interlocutory Order.

     In Monterossa v. Superior Court, 237 Cal.App.4^th 747, 751 (2015) [discussed in our June 14, 2015 post], the Third District decided that a borrower obtaining preliminary, rather permanent, injunctive relief under the California Homeowner Bill of Rights may be entitled to an award of attorney’s fees under the Civil Code section 2924.12(i) fee-shifting provision. However, because it arose on a writ petition, it never decided whether an order denying fees under section 2924.12 is immediately appealable or reviewable only from an appeal of the final judgment in the case.

     The Third District just recently, in Sese v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., Case No. C074663 (3d Dist. July 22, 2016) (unpublished), decided that a borrower denied a fee award after winning a preliminary injunction under the Homeowner Bill of Rights had to wait until a final judgment was rendered before he could appeal. The borrower’s appeal of a denial of a $100,865 fee request was dismissed, because he could not immediately appeal from only the interim order before entry of a final judgment.