Robinson

In this case, we hold that a trial court has the authority to determine the identity of the “prevailing party” in litigation, within the meaning of Civil Code section 1354, for purposes of awarding attorney fees; and that a defendant dismissed without prejudice in an action to enforce equitable servitudes thereunder is not, ipso facto, such prevailing party.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

This is a dispute over attorney fees incurred in an action to enforce the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&R’s) which govern a residential planned unit development in Walnut Creek. Appellant in this action, Wayne Robinson, owned two units in the development. In January 1988, Heather Farms Homeowners Association, Inc. (association), the entity charged with enforcing the CC&R’s, sued Robinson alleging he had made unauthorized modifications to his units. As so frequently happens in modern litigation, the complaint spawned a complex series of cross-complaints and subsidiary actions which eventually entangled the association itself, the association’s attorneys, appellant’s corporation, various real estate agents, and the persons who purchased appellant’s units while the…