Borrowers seeking attorneys' fees on appeal can't have it both ways when it comes to lenders' legal standing to foreclose.

If they prevail on arguments that plaintiffs don't own their mortgage debts and therefore lack legal right to foreclose, they can't then turn around and seek attorneys' fees under these same contracts.

It's either one or the other, said an April 12 opinion by Fourth District Court of Appeal Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz, writing for a state appellate panel of Chief Judge Cory J. Ciklin and Judge Robert M. Gross.