Kemp

The issue before us in this case is the validity of an attorney fee award granted in favor of defendant homeowners under former section 1354, subdivision (c), of the Civil Code, a provision of the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act (Civ. Code, § 4000 et seq.; hereafter the CID Act). The CID Act applies to various types of development projects, but a common interest development for purposes of the act requires a project with a common area. (See 9 Miller & Starr, Cal. Real Estate (3d ed. 2011) § 25B:1, pp. 25B-6 to 25B-7 (rel. 10/2007).) Former section 1354(c)— the attorney fee statute at issue here — provided in full; “In an action to enforce the governing documents, the prevailing party shall be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.” (Added by Stats. 2004, ch. 754, § 1, p. 5838.) The term “governing documents,” in turn, was defined in former section 1351, subdivision (j) (as amended by Stats. 2002, ch. 1111, § 1, pp. 7115, 7117-7118, now § 4150) to mean the official documents governing “the operation of [a] common interest development.”

The underlying lawsuit in this matter was filed by the Tract 19051 Homeowners Association and a number of individual…