Paul

This case arises from a dispute between buyers and sellers of residential property. The buyers were awarded judgment, including attorney fees. In the published portion of this opinion we hold that a provision for attorney fees in escrow instructions limited to fees incurred by the escrow company in collecting for escrow services does not apply to other disputes between the buyer and seller over their land sale contract. Because the attorney fees provision in this case is so limited, and the dispute between the parties had nothing to do with the adequacy of services performed by the escrow company or payment of its fees and expenses, we shall reverse the award of attorney fees. In unpublished portions of the opinion we reduce the amount of damages and reject arguments by the appellant concerning a setoff and the bar of the statute of limitations.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY

In 1988, Shobhan and Gurmit Paul sold a piece of unimproved real estate located at 31499 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu (the Schoellkopf property) to Juergen and Monika Schoellkopf. The Pauls own an adjacent lot, located at 31505 Pacific Coast Highway, where they built a house and currently…