Unlike the FEHA, the Song-Beverly Act’s one-sided attorney fee and cost clause does not expressly exempt Song-Beverly fee and cost awards from CCP 998’s fee and cost shifting framework when the plaintiff does not accept the 998 offer and later recovers less than that offer. Hence, CCP 998 applies to Song-Beverly Act claims. Section 998 aoplies even when the lawsuit is terminated by a later settlement on terms different from the 998 offer. Section 998 also makes no exception for cases in which an intervening change in the law has reduced (or increased) the value of the non-settling party’s claims or defenses after it failed to accept the 998 offer. Some added terms (about prompt payment of the settlement amount) in the eventual settlement agreement in this case did not render the settlement for a smaller sum more valuable than the 998 offer (which contained no provision regarding time of payment and so required payment within a reasonable time).