Fiala v. B & B Enterprises

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendants’ request for attorney fees after granting defendants’ motion to dismiss RICO-class action claim alleging that defendants had improperly taken control of local sanitary district and used said control to divert to themselves permit fees that should have gone to district to finance expansion of its sewage system. Plaintiffs (home owner and home contractor) lacked standing to bring instant lawsuit since scheme’s alleged theft of “Population Equivalents” assigned to homes in plaintiffs’ subdivision by defendants were only measurements of potential wastewater sewage, which, in turn, were not “property” that could be taken or stolen from plaintiffs. Moreover, Dist. Ct. could properly deny defendants’ claim for attorney fees since they failed to show that plaintiffs’ pre-complaint investigation was inadequate, where plaintiffs’ counsel spent 170 hours conducting factual and legal research prior to filing complaint, and where complaint was not otherwise frivolous.