New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Real Property Law § 234 (2026)

Right to recover attorneys' fees in actions or summary proceedings arising out of leases of residential property

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section NY-LEGnysenate.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

§ 234. Right to recover attorneys' fees in actions or summary
proceedings arising out of leases of residential property. 1. Whenever a
lease of residential property shall provide that in any action or
summary proceeding the landlord may recover attorneys' fees and/or
expenses incurred as the result of the failure of the tenant to perform
any covenant or agreement contained in such lease, or that amounts paid
by the landlord therefor shall be paid by the tenant as additional rent,
there shall be implied in such lease a covenant by the landlord to pay
to the tenant the reasonable attorneys' fees and/or expenses incurred by
the tenant as the result of the failure of the landlord to perform any
covenant or agreement on its part to be performed under the lease or in
the successful defense of any action or summary proceeding commenced by
the landlord against the tenant arising out of the lease, and an
agreement that such fees and expenses may be recovered as provided by
law in an action commenced against the landlord or by way of
counterclaim in any action or summary proceeding commenced by the
landlord against the tenant. A landlord may not recover attorneys' fees
upon a default judgment. Any waiver of this section shall be void as
against public policy.
  2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section,
where a tenant is a dwelling unit owner or shareholder of a cooperative
housing corporation, other than a cooperative housing corporation
subject to the provisions of article two, article four, article five or
article eleven of the private housing finance law, attorney's fees may
be awarded to either party in the event of default judgment if recovery
of attorney's fees is provided for in the proprietary lease or occupancy
agreement.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 264 cases (29 in the last 5 years), 1984–2026 · leading case: Duell v. Condon, 647 N.E.2d 96 (NY 1995).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Duell v. Condon, 647 N.E.2d 96 (NY 1995). · cites it 17× “The court dismissed the petition after a hearing and held further that Condon was entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees pursuant to Real Property Law § 234. The parties stipulated to fees in the amount of $51,517.”

Graham Court Owner's Corp. v. Kyle Taylor, 28 N.E.3d 527 (NY 2015). · cites it 16× “The landlord responded in a posttrial memorandum that Real Property Law § 234 did not apply because the statute only recognized a tenant’s implied right to attorneys’ fees if the lease provided for landlord’s fees incurred in an action for the tenant’s breach, and that the…”

245 Realty Assocs. v. Sussis, 243 A.D.2d 29 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998). · cites it 15× “The respondents, in their answer, denied the allegations of the petition and asserted that Donald Sussis was entitled to succeed his brother as tenant under the Rent Stabilization Code and counterclaimed for attorneys’ fees under Real Property Law § 234. Paragraph 20 of the…”

Casamento v. Juaregui, 88 A.D.3d 345 (N.Y. App. Div. 2011). · cites it 15× “Real Property Law § 234, which governs residential leases, establishes an implied covenant providing a tenant with the right to recover an attorney’s fee incurred in the successful defense of a summary proceeding to recover possession of a leasehold where the parties’ lease…”

Matter of 251 CPW Hous. LLC v. Pastreich, 124 A.D.3d 401 (N.Y. App. Div. 2015). · cites it 8× “The tenant then moved in the Housing Court proceeding for an award of legal fees on the ground that, as the prevailing party, he was entitled to such fees pursuant to the terms of the lease and Real Property Law § 234. The tenant sought fees incurred in the holdover, DHCR and…”

Solow Mgmt. Corp. v. Tanger, 19 A.D.3d 225 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005). · cites it 3× “v Hessen, 136 AD2d 145 [1988]), the attorneys’ fees to which a landlord is entitled under a lease must be similarly restricted. In addition, on remand the IAS court must adjust the manner in which prejudgment interest on the fee award is calculated.”

Cier Indus. Co. v. Hessen, 136 A.D.2d 145 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988). · cites it 3× “Justice Ostrau also observed that a failure to enforce lease provisions requiring tenants to reimburse landlords for legal expenses incurred in successful nonprimary residence holdover proceedings would vitiate the important reciprocal protection afforded to tenants to recover…”

Scotia Assocs. v. Bond, 126 Misc. 2d 885 (N.Y. City Civ. Ct. 1985). · cites it 7× “The legal issues presented here are (i) whether legal fees have been “incurred” so as to enable a tenant, who succeeded in having a summary proceeding instituted against her dismissed, to recover counsel fees under Real Property Law § 234 when the tenant’s attorney undertook the…”

Est. of Del Terzo v. 33 Fifth Avenue Owners Corp., 136 A.D.3d 486 (N.Y. App. Div. 2016). · cites it 2× “Where, as here, a residential lease provides that the landlord may recover legal fees incurred in an action resulting from the tenant's failure to perform a covenant in the lease, Real Property Law § 234 provides the tenant with an implied reciprocal right to recover attorneys'…”

Trust for the Benefit of Goldstein v. Lipetz, 2017 NY Slip Op 4070 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017). · cites it 2× “Finally, the eighth affirmative defense and first counterclaim, which seeks attorneys' fees under the reciprocal provision of Real Property Law § 234, should be dismissed because, in view of the foregoing, there is no possibility of a result substantially favorable to defendant…”

Msibi v. JRD Mgmt. Corp., 154 Misc. 2d 293 (N.Y. City Civ. Ct. 1992). · cites it 7× “The tenant also requests an award of the legal fees she incurred in the successful defense of two summary nonpayment proceedings and in the present litigation pursuant to Real Property Law § 234. The landlord has cross-moved to dismiss the action on the ground that neither the…”

Levy v. Carol Mgmt. Corp., 260 A.D.2d 27 (N.Y. App. Div. 1999). · cites it 2× “The prevailing prime tenant most recently sought to recover attorneys’ fees, pursuant to Real Property Law § 234, from the husband and wife subtenants.”

Show all 264 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.