Landlord-Tenant—Attorney Fees—Real Property Law §223-b—Retaliatory Proceeding—Reciprocal Mandate of Real Property Law (RPL) §234—Appellate Division Reconciled Apparent Conflict As To Whether A Provision Which Permits A Landlord To Recover Attorney Fees For Re-renting an Apartment After Prevailing In A Holdover Proceeding Is Adequate To Invoke the Reciprocal Mandate of RPL §234
This appeal involved a tenant who had successfully defended a holdover proceeding. The landlord sought to recover the apartment, asserting that the tenant breached the lease “by making unauthorized alterations to the premises.” Following a trial, the trial court had dismissed the holdover proceeding and “awarded the tenant attorney fees pursuant to [RPL] §223-b ['§223-b'], based upon [a court's] finding that [the] proceeding was retaliatory in nature.” The Appellate Term reversed the award of attorney fees, but otherwise affirmed. It also rejected the tenant’s alternative claim for attorney fees pursuant to RPL §234 (§234]. The Appellate Division, First Department (court) modified the order of the Appellate Term and examined and reconciled “an apparent conflict within this Department with respect to whether a similarly worded lease provision, which permits a landlord to recover attorneys’ fees for re-renting an apartment after prevailing in a holdover proceeding, is adequate to invoke the reciprocal mandate of…§234.”
