N.Y. Real Property Law § 234

RPL § 234: if the lease gives the landlord legal costs, the tenant gets them too

Real Property Law § 234 implies a reciprocal covenant into a residential lease that gives the landlord attorneys' fees, so the tenant may recover too.

Official text N.Y. Real Property Law § 234 — New York

§ 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.

Text as published in the 2026 snapshot of the code.

Source: Vaquill Open US Law, compiled from official state publishers (huggingface.co), reproduced under license CC BY 4.0.

Read this provision at the official source →

What it actually says

Section 234 turns a one-sided clause into a two-sided one. Wherever a residential lease provides that the landlord may recover attorneys' fees or expenses arising from the tenant's failure to perform a covenant - including the common drafting where such amounts are called "additional rent" - the statute implies into that same lease a covenant by the landlord to pay the tenant's reasonable fees and expenses in two cases: where the landlord fails to perform its own obligations under the lease, and where the tenant successfully defends an action or summary proceeding the landlord brought arising out of the lease.

The implied covenant comes with the machinery to use it. The section says the tenant's fees may be recovered in an action against the landlord or by counterclaim in the landlord's own proceeding, which is where it is usually invoked: the tenant who defeats a non-payment or holdover petition asks for fees in the same case. The section adds a limit on the landlord's side - a landlord may not recover attorneys' fees on a default judgment - and makes any waiver of the section void as against public policy.

Subdivision 2 is the co-op exception. Where the tenant is a dwelling unit owner or shareholder of a cooperative housing corporation (other than the publicly assisted corporations it lists), fees may be awarded to either party even on a default judgment, if the proprietary lease or occupancy agreement provides for them. Everything in the section depends on the lease containing a fee clause in the first place: if it does not, § 234 has nothing to reciprocate and each side bears its own costs.

When it applies

  • A tenant defeats a non-payment proceeding and wants the cost of the lawyer back.
  • A holdover petition is dismissed and the lease says the landlord may recover fees from the tenant.
  • The landlord failed to perform a lease obligation and the tenant had to bring proceedings to enforce it.
  • A lease describes the landlord's legal costs as additional rent added to the ledger.
  • A shareholder in a co-op faces a fee claim under a proprietary lease.

What this section does not say

  • It does not create a right to fees where the lease gives none. The reciprocal covenant is implied only into leases that already give the landlord fees.
  • It is not automatic on any win. The text speaks of the successful defense of the landlord's action or of the landlord's failure to perform - and of reasonable fees, which the court assesses.
  • It does not apply to a tenancy with no lease at all, since there is no fee clause to mirror.
  • It does not cover disputes that do not arise out of the lease.
  • It does not let a landlord collect fees on a default judgment - subdivision 1 forbids that, subject to the co-op exception in subdivision 2.

Worked examples

Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.

Illustrative example

A tenant defeats a non-payment proceeding after paying for a lawyer, and then notices the clause in the lease letting the landlord charge his legal costs if the tenant loses.

How the wording applies

Where a residential lease provides that the landlord may recover attorneys' fees arising from the tenant's failure to perform - including where the lease calls them additional rent - the statute implies a covenant by the landlord to pay the tenant's reasonable fees where the tenant successfully defends an action or summary proceeding brought by the landlord out of the lease, recoverable by counterclaim in the landlord's own case. It turns on the lease containing such a clause at all, because the section mirrors a right and does not create one.

How the parties settled it

The landlord credits the tenant's legal bill against the next several months' rent and removes the "additional rent" fee wording at the next renewal.

Illustrative example

A tenant who successfully defended a holdover proceeding wants her costs back, and the lease turns out to say nothing about legal fees in either direction.

How the wording applies

Everything in the section depends on the lease containing a fee clause to begin with: § 234 reciprocates an existing right rather than creating one. With nothing to mirror, each side bears its own costs, and that absence is what decides this.

How the parties settled it

Neither pursues the other for costs, and they sign a renewal that stays silent on legal fees so the position remains symmetrical.

Illustrative example

A co-op shareholder facing a fee claim under a proprietary lease is told that fees can never be awarded on a default judgment. The corporation says its position is different.

How the wording applies

Subdivision 1 does forbid a landlord recovering attorneys' fees on a default judgment, and subdivision 2 is the exception: where the tenant is a dwelling unit owner or shareholder of a cooperative housing corporation, other than the publicly assisted corporations listed, fees may be awarded to either party even on a default if the proprietary lease or occupancy agreement provides for them. So it turns on the co-op status and on what that lease says.

How the parties settled it

The shareholder agrees to answer the claim rather than let it go by default, and the corporation caps the fees it seeks at the amount actually invoiced to it.

How courts have read it

Decisions construing this provision. The question and the summary are ours; the quoted sentence is the court's own words, taken from the published opinion. These are the decisions in our corpus, not every decision there is, and nothing here predicts any other case. Reported 2003 to 2017.

Hood v. Koziej, 140 A.D.3d 563 (2016)

Appellate Division

What the court had to decide

Whether a landlord can be liable for attorneys' fees under Real Property Law § 234 when the landlord did not sign the lease but ratified it by accepting rent and giving keys.

What it held

Yes, ratification of the lease by the landlord creates a reciprocal obligation for attorneys' fees under § 234, even without a signed copy.

In the court's words
By so doing, defendants ratified the lease and lease extension, and thus cannot avoid their obligations now, including their reciprocal obligation for attorneys’ fees under Real Property Law § 234, simply because they never delivered a signed copy of the leases to plaintiff

Berkowitz v. 29 Woodmere Blvd. Owners', Inc., 50 Misc. 3d 843 (2015)

trial courts

What the court had to decide

Whether the plaintiff may recover attorneys' fees under Real Property Law § 234 from the cooperative corporation and from individual defendants.

What it held

The plaintiff may recover reasonable attorneys' fees from the cooperative corporation if he prevails on his breach of contract claim, but not from individual defendants because there is no contractual or statutory basis.

In the court's words
The reverse is not true; plaintiff alleges that the co-op breached the proprietary lease and if he prevails he is entitled to recover reasonable counsel fees and expenses from the co-op pursuant to Real Property Law § 234.

150 West End Owners Corp. v. Chestnut Holdings of N.Y. Inc., 49 Misc. 3d 1147 (2015)

trial courts

What the court had to decide

Does Real Property Law § 234 apply to commercial leases?

What it held

Real Property Law § 234 applies only to residential leases, not commercial leases.

In the court's words
Pursuant to Real Property Law § 234, attorney’s fees may be awarded, in appropriate circumstances, to a tenant who is a prevailing party in a controversy; however, Real Property Law § 234 is applicable only in the residential setting and not in the commercial context.

Graham Court Owners Corp. v. Taylor, 24 N.Y.3d 742 (2015)

Court of Appeals of New York

What the court had to decide

Whether Real Property Law § 234 applies to a lease that authorizes the landlord to cancel the lease upon tenant's default, repossess the premises, and then collect attorneys' fees incurred in retaking possession.

What it held

Real Property Law § 234 applies to such a lease, granting the tenant reciprocal rights to attorneys' fees.

In the court's words
We hold that Real Property Law § 234, which imposes a covenant in favor of a tenant’s right to attorneys’ fees, applies to a lease that authorizes the landlord to cancel the lease upon tenant’s default, repossess the premises and then collect attorneys’ fees incurred in retaking possession.

47 Thames Realty, LLC v. Rusconi, 116 A.D.3d 657 (2014)

Appellate Division

What the court had to decide

Whether the defendants were entitled to an award of attorney's fees under Real Property Law § 234 when the action had not terminated in their favor.

What it held

The defendants were not entitled to attorney's fees under Real Property Law § 234 because the matter had not terminated in their favor.

In the court's words
The Supreme Court properly denied the defendants’ motion for an award of attorney’s fees pursuant to Real Property Law § 234 because the matter has not terminated in their favor (see Real Property Law § 234).

Gonzalez v. Kwik Realty LLC, 42 Misc. 3d 433 (2013)

trial courts

What the court had to decide

Whether the petition stated a claim for attorneys' fees under Real Property Law § 234.

What it held

The court held that the claim for attorneys' fees under Real Property Law § 234 was not ripe for dismissal because the petitioners had not yet proven their entitlement to fees, and the issue was premature.

In the court's words
As petitioners correctly assert, respondent owners’ claim that petitioners are not entitled to attorneys’ fees pursuant to Real Property Law § 234 is entirely premature.

Source: Caselaw Access Project, CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain dedication).

Related sections

N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-b Warranty of Habitability: N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-b N.Y. Real Property Law § 223-b No Retaliatory Eviction: N.Y. Real Property Law § 223-b N.Y. Real Property Law § 238-a Twenty Dollar Fee Cap: N.Y. Real Property Law § 238-a N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-c Refuse unfair lease clause: N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-c N.Y. Real Property Law § 216 Good cause eviction grounds: N.Y. Real Property Law § 216

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We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.

This page reproduces the text of N.Y. Real Property Law § 234 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in New York.

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