Sinclair & Valentine Co., Inc. v. Cty. of Los Angeles

The instant appeals are taken from a summary judgment quieting title to a parcel of real property in favor of plaintiff Sinclair & Valentine Company and cancelling certain deeds purporting to convey the property first from defendant Tax Collector of the County of Los Angeles to the State of California and then from the state, acting by and through the County, to defendants Stephen Landau and Reid Alexander (hereinafter defendants).

In its appeal the County does not contest the propriety of the judgment insofar as it restores plaintiff’s title to the property, but rather merely challenges that portion which requires it to pay plaintiff’s attorney’s fees in the amount of $30,000 pursuant to 42 United States Code section 1988 . On the other hand, plaintiff asserts the trial court abused its discretion by “arbitrarily halving” its requested attorney’s fee award and disallowing its nonstatutory out-of-pocket costs in their entirety.

Only defendants assail the merits of the judgment, per se, contending: “[L] Revenue and Taxation Code § 3711 bars any attack on the deed to [defendants] on grounds other than a violation of [plaintiff’s] constitutional rights. [II.] The sale of…