The Davis-Stirling Act Fee-Shifting Provision, Section 5975(c), Mandates The Award Of Fees To The Prevailing Party With The Trial Court's Only Discretion Being To Determine The Reasonable Amount Of Fees.
Hope Ranch Park Homes Assoc. v. Rubin, Case No. B299932 (2d Dist., Div. 6 December 14, 2020) (unpublished) involved a $30,600 penalty assessed against a homeowner for failure to complete a home remodeling project by the deadline extended by the HOA and pursuant to the HOA's CC&Rs. The trial court determined that the penalties were properly imposed by the HOA and that homeowner owed HOA $26,600 after having paid $4,000 of the penalty by the time of trial. Additionally, the trial court awarded HOA $1,358.92 in costs, but denied HOA’s motion for attorney fees under Civil Code § 5975(c) – the Davis-Stirling Act fee-shifting provision.
The 2/6 DCA reversed – finding the trial court erred in denying the HOA’s motion for fees because § 5975(c) mandates the award of attorney fees to the prevailing party. “Attorney fees under section 5975 ‘are awarded as a matter of right, and there is no discretion afforded to the trial court in granting or denying such fees, other than as to their reasonableness and amount.’” (Chapala Management Corp. v. Stanton, 186 Cal.App.4th 1532, 1546 (2010); see also Rancho Mirage Country Club Homeowners Assn. v. Hazelbaker, 2 Cal.App.5th 252, 260-261 (2016) [trial court has no discretion to deny attorney fees to a prevailing HOA]; Salehi v. Surfside III Condominium Owners Assn., 200 Cal.App.4th 1146, 1152 (2011).)
On remand, the panel instructed the trial court to exercise its discretion to determine the amount of reasonable attorney’s fees to which the HOA is entitled.
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