No Attorney's Fees for Tenant Who Won Appeal
LVT Number: #24236
Tenant brought an Article 78 court proceeding to appeal a DHCR decision concerning his claimed succession rights to a Mitchell-Lama apartment. The court ruled for tenant and ordered a hearing to determine the amount of attorney's fees due from landlord to tenant in connection with the Article 78 proceeding and underlying DHCR proceedings. Landlord appealed and won. Real Property Law Section 234 provides for a reciprocal right to attorney's fees when a residential lease authorizes such fees in favor of the landlord "in any action or summary proceeding." But this provision didn't apply to DHCR administrative proceedings or to Article 78 proceedings. Tenant wasn't entitled to attorney's fees.
Blair v. DHCR: NYLJ, 7/2/12, p. 19, col. 5 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Saxe, JP, Friedman, Renwick, DeGrasse, Richter, JJ)