The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the homeowner’s association was the prevailing party entitled to an attorney fee award under CC 5957. The judgment upheld the homeowner association’s right to impose and enforce fines for breach of the association’s CC&Rs. Though the judgment only awarded $6,600 of the $20,000 in fines that the association sought to enforce, the trial court could reasonably find that the association met more of its litigation objectives than the homeowner had. The trial court also did not abuse its discretion in awarding the association its full attorney fees and refusing to reduce or deny an award because the recovery was within the superior court’s limited jurisdiction, though the suit was filed as an unlimited case, or because of the association’s limited success on the merits.
California Court of Appeal, Sixth District (Grover, J.); April 19, 2016; 2016 WL 1586556