Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: Case Dismissed, Attorney Fees?

We are dealing here with the Code of Civil Procedure sections 1032, 1033, and 1034.

The law says the prevailing party may recover costs. The problem here is whether , because of a technicality, the defendant is a prevailing party.

I regret that because my efforts here are pro bono, I cannot afford the time out of my practice to research the matter.

I have given you a head start, but there is no simple answer here. You are probably going to find it necessary to retain an attorney to do the research for you, and perhaps appear in court, or write a brief, if the defendant's attorney pushes forth with this.

Good luck!

Re: Case Dismissed, Attorney Fees?

Was it a dismissal without prejudice; that is you could refile it? If so, I would think you definitly would not be responsible for fees.

Without doing any research on the subject, I do not think her attoreny is correct. When a landlord wins the case against a tenant, does the landord ever get a judgment for attorney fees; not thatI am aware of. Unless the code section requiring a trust to appear via an attorney awards attorney fees, there is no reason this situation should be any different than other cases. In general attorney fees are ony awardable if the agreement between the parties provides for it [look at the lease to see if it give iehter side fees and baoth sides are entitled to the same treatment]or the statute provides for it. Call teh other attorney and ask him on what basis is he/she claiming attorney fees and if they have not basis point out the cost bill is udner declaration of prejury and if they include somethjing they know legally they are not entitled to or are informed of that, then signing the cost bill would be perjury and allow yho to seek sanctions against the tenant and the lawyer.