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contractual limitations on attorneys’ fees apply in enforcement
proceedings. It did not.
Although Apria is correct that most appellate courts that
have considered section 685.040 have not addressed whether
contractual limits on attorneys’ fees survive merger, we find
persuasive the reasoning in Cardinale, supra, 222 Cal.App.4th
pages 1025 to 1026. There, Noreen Cardinale won a money
judgment against Daniel Miller based on breach of contract,
fraud, and other claims arising from an abusive loan scheme. (Id.
at pp. 1022-1024.) The judgment against Miller included an
award of contractual attorneys’ fees. (Id. at p. 1025, fn. 8.)
Cardinale subsequently sued Miller and the brokers who engaged
in a refinancing scheme with him for fraudulent transfer and
conspiracy, alleging they conspired to prevent satisfaction of
Cardinale’s judgment. Cardinale prevailed at trial, and the trial
court awarded nearly $300,000 in attorneys’ fees against the
brokers under section 685.040. (Id. at p. 1025.)