Sanger

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL

BACKGROUND

This case has a protracted history, but we need describe only a portion of it. The Sangers and Ahn were owners as tenants in common of a building in San Francisco, and

1 their rights and responsibilities were set forth in a contract called the Tenancy In Common Agreement (TICA). Among other provisions, the TICA provided that the prevailing party in any arbitration or litigation would be entitled to an award of attorney fees. It included a term stating, “Any judgment or order entered in such action shall contain a specific provision providing for the recovery of attorney fees and costs incurred in enforcing such judgment . . . .” The Sangers obtained an arbitration award against Ahn for unpaid mortgage payments, and they later obtained a court judgment to enforce the award. The original court judgment was entered by the trial court on March 12, 2012. It awarded the Sangers “$68,656.07 . . . and . . . $4,214.50 in attorneys’ fees and costs,” and it ordered Ahn to perform all of the acts required by the final arbitration award. The judgment did not, however, contain a specific provision that provided for the recovery of additional attorney…