Opinion ID: 1924664
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Award of Attorney Fees to Defendants.

Text: Because the trial court found a Consumer Credit Code violation with respect to the action of the bank in seeking to include the indebtedness represented by the second note to Sayer in the sums claimed of defendants under the written guaranty agreement, it awarded certain attorney fees to defendants to be paid by the bank. The award was predicated on Iowa Code section 537.5201(8) (1981) which provides: In an action in which it is found that a person has violated this chapter, the court shall award to the consumer the costs of the action and to his attorneys their reasonable fees. The amount of this award was ascertained by prorating the time spent by defendants' attorneys between the various claims of the petition. Both sides have appealed from the attorney fee award. Because our holding in the preceding division negates any basis for defendants' claim that there was a violation by the bank of the Consumer Credit Code, we hold that no attorney fees may be recovered by the defendants. That portion of the trial court's judgment is also reversed.