After years of litigation that had racked up thousands of dollars in legal fees, the California Fifth Appellate Court has ruled in favor of the Lushmeadows Association in its lawsuit against Eugene Taggs, Jeffrey and Mary Alice Whalley and Norman Wray.

The court’s decision, issued two weeks ago, affirmed the Mariposa County Superior Court decision that Taggs and his fellow plaintiffs were responsible for paying homeowner association dues and that the association could enforce the CC&Rs. The protracted dispute drug on for years, with legal fees mounting as time wore on.

The appellate court not only found that the defendants were responsible for homeowners’ dues, but also awarded the association all legal fees associated with the case.

The whole issue began in 2006, when then-president of the Lushmeadows Association Lowell Young filed small claims court actions against a number of Lushmeadows homeowners for not paying their assessed association dues, which are $120 per year.

Taggs originally challenged the association’s legal right to assess any property owner in the subdivision. After Young filed the small claims actions, he asked the board of directors to pay some $35,000 in legal charges to attorney Ann Rankin. The board took out a deed of trust on its clubhouse, provided by Young, to pay the bill.

Many members of the association took exception to the action, and Young was removed from his post. A good portion of Rankin’s charges at that time were the result of telephone conversations to Young.

Taggs, the Whalleys and Wray counter-sued the association, and now it appears that they will be left footing a pretty big legal bill.

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