Graham Court Owner's Corp. v. Kyle Taylor, 24 N.Y.3d 742 (2015)

Citation: Graham Court Owner's Corp. v. Kyle Taylor, 24 N.Y.3d 742 (2015)
Parent Document: Graham Court Owner's Corp. v. Kyle Taylor, 24 N.Y.3d 742 (2015)
Jurisdiction: New York (state)
Effective Date: 2015-02-19
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2780292/graham-court-owners-corp-v-kyle-taylor/ ↗

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clause D. (3).
           Here, the lease provides for the landlord's right to
cancel the lease, retake possession and relet the premises only
upon the tenant's failure to cure a default. Thus, the landlord's
attorneys' fees under paragraph 15 D. (3) for "getting possession
and re-renting" are incurred as a result of the tenant's breach.
The issue is not whether the attorneys' fees are available in the
landlord's underlying proceeding against the tenant for the
breach of the lease.   There is no such limitation found in the
text of Real Property Law § 234 (see Duell v Condon, 84 NY2d 773,
783 [1995] ["Real Property Law § 234 contains no limitation,
stating that its terms apply '[w]henever a lease of residential
property' includes an attorneys' fees and expenses clause in
favor of the landlord"]).   Rather, the issue is whether the lease
provides that "in any action or summary proceeding" the landlord
may recover attorneys' fees incurred as the result of the
tenant's breach of a leasehold covenant or agreement.   That is
what the lease here provides by permitting recovery of attorneys'
fees for getting possession and reletting only when the tenant
breaches the lease.
           The landlord's other contention that the statute should
be treated as a form of mitigation that reduces the amount owed
by the tenant to the landlord disregards the import of clause
D.(3).   That clause states that "any rent received by Landlord
for the re-renting shall be used first to pay Landlord's expenses

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