207-209 W. 107th St., LLC v De La Cruz

Holding The Appellate Term affirmed the award of attorneys’ fees to tenants who prevailed on a succession defense, rejecting the argument that the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 barred such counterclaims. The court held that RPAPL § 702 (1) limits what constitutes rent in a summary proceeding but does not eliminate the statutory right to counterclaim for attorneys’ fees under RPL § 234.

The court’s words

The ninth and sixteenth paragraphs of the governing lease agreement were sufficiently broad to trigger a reciprocal right to attorneys' fees

2026 NY Slip Op 26192, at the official text

Properly construed, RPAPL § 702 (1) is a limitation on what can be recovered as rent in a summary proceeding

2026 NY Slip Op 26192, at the official text

The absence of an express provision in HSTPA amending or repealing RPL § 234's express allowance of a counterclaim for attorneys' fees gives rise to a presumption that repeal was not intended

2026 NY Slip Op 26192, at the official text