You are here: / / TENANT DID NOT COUNTERCLAIM FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES IN THE EVICTION PROCEEDINGS,...
, , ,

TENANT DID NOT COUNTERCLAIM FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES IN THE EVICTION PROCEEDINGS, TENANT’S BRINGING A PLENARY ACTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AFTER SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDING THE EVICTION DID NOT VIOLATE THE PROHIBITION AGAINST CLAIM SPLITTING (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice DeMoyer, refusing to follow the 1st Department, determined the tenant, who was a defendant in a failed eviction action, had the right to bring a plenary action to recover attorney’s fees without violating the prohibition against claim splitting. It is significant that the tenant did not counterclaim for attorney’s fees in the answer to the eviction action. The fact that the answer included a boilerplate request for attorney’s fees in the wherefore clause did not amount to a counterclaim (which is authorized by Real Property Law § 234:

Applying the traditional understanding of the claim splitting rule discussed above and embodied in the landlord-tenant case law, the landlord’s bid for dismissal on claim splitting grounds must fail. It was the landlord, not the tenant, who instituted the two prior proceedings in Village Court. The tenant successfully defended herself against the landlord’s claims, but she did not assert an affirmative claim until the instant plenary action. Indeed, the landlord’s appellate brief explicitly concedes that the tenant did not interpose a Real Property Law § 234 counterclaim for attorneys’ fees in either of the two prior proceedings. Thus, because the instant action is the tenant’s first assertion of an affirmative claim for relief under section 234, the claim splitting rule poses no bar to her recovery. Put simply, the tenant cannot be guilty of claim splitting because, until the instant action, there was no claim to split. Caracaus v Conifer Cent. Sq. Assoc., 2017 NY Slip Op 08946, Fourth Dept 12-22-17

 

CIVIL PROCEDURE (CLAIM SPLITTING, TENANT DID NOT COUNTERCLAIM FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES IN THE EVICTION PROCEEDINGS, TENANT’S BRINGING A PLENARY ACTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AFTER SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDING THE EVICTION DID NOT VIOLATE THE PROHIBITION AGAINST CLAIM SPLITTING (FOURTH DEPT))/LANDLORD-TENANT (EVICTION, ATTORNEY’S FEES, TENANT DID NOT COUNTERCLAIM FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES IN THE EVICTION PROCEEDINGS, TENANT’S BRINGING A PLENARY ACTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AFTER SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDING THE EVICTION DID NOT VIOLATE THE PROHIBITION AGAINST CLAIM SPLITTING (FOURTH DEPT))/REAL PROPERTY LAW (LANDLORD-TENANT, ATTORNEY’S FEES, TENANT DID NOT COUNTERCLAIM FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES IN THE EVICTION PROCEEDINGS, TENANT’S BRINGING A PLENARY ACTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AFTER SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDING THE EVICTION DID NOT VIOLATE THE PROHIBITION AGAINST CLAIM SPLITTING (FOURTH DEPT))/CLAIM SPLITTING  (LANDLORD-TENANT, ATTORNEY’S FEES, TENANT DID NOT COUNTERCLAIM FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES IN THE EVICTION PROCEEDINGS, TENANT’S BRINGING A PLENARY ACTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AFTER SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDING THE EVICTION DID NOT VIOLATE THE PROHIBITION AGAINST CLAIM SPLITTING (FOURTH DEPT))

You might also like
Stay of Arbitration Properly Denied, Collective Bargaining Agreement Allowed Issue to Be Determined in Arbitration
“OPPORTUNITY TO BALLOT” REMEDY AVAILABLE WHERE SIGNATURES ON A NOMINATING PETITION INVALIDATED FOR A TECHNICAL DEFECT AND THE PARTY WOULD BE LEFT WITHOUT A CANDIDATE (FOURTH DEPT).
Gun Found Wedged Under a Rock After an Illegal Police Pursuit Was Not “Abandoned,” Suppression of Gun Was Proper
“Sudden Stopping” and “Emergency Doctrine” Jury Instructions Proper in Rear-End Collision Case
QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER (1) DEFENDANT WAS A GENERAL CONTRACTOR OR AGENT OF THE OWNER, (2) WHETHER DEFENDANT HAD CONTROL OVER THE WORK SITE AND NOTICE OF A DANGEROUS CONDITION, AND (3) WHETHER THE INJURY WAS THE RESULT OF THE ABSENCE OR FAILURE OF A SAFETY DEVICE IN THIS LABOR LAW 240 (1), 241 (6) AND 200 ACTION (FOURTH DEPT).
MOTHER’S REQUEST FOR A CONTINUANCE IN THIS TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS PROCEEDING SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED.
FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE EMPLOYER’S DIRECTIVE TO TAKE THE COVID-19 VACCINE JUSTIFIED THE TERMINATION OF PETITIONER’S EMPLOYMENT; THE ARBITRATOR’S RULING TO THAT EFFECT DID NOT VIOLATE PUBLIC POLICY AND WAS NOT IRRATIONAL (FOURTH DEPT).
DEFENDANT WAS 17 WHEN HE COMMITTED THE CRIMES AND WAS CONVICTED OF MURDER IN 1992, THAT CONVICTION WAS OVERTURNED AND DEFENDANT PLED GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER IN 2016, ALTHOUGH DEFENDANT WAIVED HIS RIGHT TO APPEAL, HE WAS ENTITLED TO CONSIDERATION OF WHETHER HE SHOULD BE AFFORDED YOUTHFUL OFFENDER STATUS (FOURTH DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

AN ATTEMPT TO SERVE WALTER WITKOWSKI JR AT THE ADDRESS OF WALTER WITKOWSKI SR... PLAINTIFF FAILED TO COMPLY WITH THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICE OF PROCESS...