Martini v. Bel Azure Homeowners Assn. CA4/1
After plaintiff and appellant Lorraine Martini obtained a special verdict finding defendants and respondents Bel Azure Homeowners Association (Association) and its manager Morning View Associates (Morning View) each 35 percent negligent with respect to injuries she had suffered after falling on Association's premises, she moved for $145,212.67 in attorney fees and costs, claiming she was the prevailing party under Association's covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&R's), Code of Civil Procedure sections 1032 and 1033.5, and Civil Code section 5975, subdivision (c) of the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act (Davis-Stirling Act; § 4000 et seq.). The trial court denied her motion, ruling her case was "not an action 'to enforce or interpret any of the covenants, conditions or restrictions' in the CC&R's" but instead was "a common law negligence case," and no contract or statute authorized an attorney fee award.
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