Condo Media - May 2021 - 44

The Region

VERMONT

2020 Vermont
Legal Developments
Few Changes to Report
[by Christina A. Jensen, Esq.]

2020 was a strange year in so
many ways, so it should be no surprise
that there are few developments to
report on the Vermont common interest community governance legal and
legislative front.
LEGAL FEES MAY BE AWARDED
EVEN WHERE NOMINAL
DAMAGES ARE AWARDED
TO THE OTHER PARTY
The availability - and likelihood of
success - of a claim for recovery of
legal fees is often an important
consideration in litigation involving
common interest communities.
Vermont's Common Interest Ownership Act provides that " [a] declarant,
association, unit owner, or any other
person subject to this title may bring

44

CONDOMEDIA May 2021

an action to enforce a right granted or
obligation imposed by this title, the
declaration, or the bylaws, " and that the
" court may award reasonable attorney
fees and costs. " 27A V.S.A. § 4-117(a).
Section 4-117 applies to pre-existing
communities, and allows courts to award
attorney's fees to any party that prevails
in an action.
What it means for a party to prevail
has been the subject of litigation. It has

been established since at least 2012
that a party may prevail for purposes of
an attorney's fee award even where the
party does not succeed on all claims,
as well as that it may prevail where an
issue is settled prior to judicial resolution if the litigation was the " catalyst
for the relief. " Montgomery v. 232511
Invs., Ltd., 2012 VT 31. That case was
brought by a group of unit owners
against the developer to challenge
its authority to unilaterally amend
the declaration. The developer and
association entered into a settlement
resolving the issue at a late stage of the
litigation. There, the developer could
not avoid reimbursing the unit owners
for their legal fees through an agreement with the association.
More recently, the trial court in
Burlington, Vermont, has ruled that
the defendant association was the
prevailing party for purposes of a
substantial attorney's fee award where
the plaintiffs " threw massive efforts
into this case, " but were awarded only
a $1.00 verdict against the association.
Gardner v. Hokenson, No. 1007-10-17
CNCV, 2020 WL 7061530, at
*1 (Vt.Super. May 1, 2020).
ABOUT THOSE CONFUSING
PROVISIONS OF VERMONT'S
COMMON INTEREST
OWNERSHIP ACT...
Vermont's Common Interest
Ownership Act was last amended in
2011. The Act is comprehensive and has
been extremely useful in guiding the
creation and governance of common
interest communities since 1999.
However, as with much legislation,
application over time has revealed some
provisions that are confusing
or troublesome in application.

Vermont's Common Interest Ownership Act was last amended
in 2011. The Act is comprehensive and has been extremely
useful in guiding the creation and governance of
common interest communities since 1999.



Condo Media - May 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - May 2021

Contents
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Condo Media - May 2021 - Cover2
Condo Media - May 2021 - Contents
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Condo Media - May 2021 - Cover3
Condo Media - May 2021 - Cover4
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