Mediation & Attorney's Fees

[Jessica H.]

Hi all,

I would love your feedback on a couple of clauses in my lease agreement. Does this make sense? 

What I want to say:

- Before going to court, let's use mediation.

- We each pay our own mediation fees.

- List the usual exclusions for mediation.

- Attorney's fees in a lawsuit: tenant or landlord don't recover attorney's fees/costs. We each pay our own.

How it is written:

*) Mediation. Landlord and Tenant agree to mediate any dispute or claim arising between them out of this Agreement, or any resulting transaction, before resorting to court action. Mediation fees, if any, shall be divided equally among the parties involved. If, for any dispute or claim to which this paragraph applies, any party commences an action without first attempting to resolve the matter through mediation, or refuses to mediate after a request has been made, then that party shall not be entitled to recover attorney fees, even if they would otherwise be available to that party in any such action. The following are excluded from mediation (i) an unlawful detainer action (ii) the filing or enforcement of a mechanic’s lien; and (iii) any matter within the jurisdiction of a probate, small claims or bankruptcy court. The filing of a court action to enable the recording of a notice of pending action, for order of attachment, receivership, injunction, or other provisional remedies shall not constitute a waiver of the mediation provision.

*) Payment of Attorneys’ Fees in a Lawsuit. In any action or legal proceeding to enforce any part of this Agreement, the prevailing party [X] will not/ [ ] will recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs.

I appreciate your feedback in advance! Thank you,

Jessica

[Jessica H.]

@Ashish Acharya - You're right. I'm not trying to force but to use mediation as the first medium to try to resolve any issues.

I took the verbiage from the California Association of Realtors Residential Lease agreement (CAR) and edited to make some changes. I'm attaching a screenshot of those paragraphs here. :)