Fee Clause “Any Right” Language Allowed Tenant To Recover For Landlord’s Misrepresentations.
Zhang v. Cheung, Case No. B282132 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Jan. 16, 2019) (unpublished) involved a situation where a landlord won only $16,200 in damages for breach of a lease, while tenant won $30,078.85 in damages from landlord for intentional misrepresentation and negligence. The lease had a fees clause providing recovery to prevailing litigant in situations “to enforce any provision of this lease or any right of either party hereto ….” The lower court awarded fees and costs of $53,791.79 to tenant as the prevailing party in the litigation. (The trial judge, while the matter was on appeal, vacated the fee award and then later reinstated it, with the appellate court only looking to the initial fee award given that the vacation order was void once the appeal was filed.)
The 2/7 DCA upheld the fees/costs award. The “any right of either party” language was broad enough to encompass tenant’s victory on the misrepresentation/negligence claims. Because the jury awarded more to tenant than landlord, tenant was the successful party. Landlord then asked the appellate court to limit his liability to his equity in the property based on a lease limitations provision, but that only applied to any lease claims rather than the tort claims under which tenant was victorious.
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