Neither Party Prevailed Completely

Landlord sued to evict rent-controlled tenant for nonpayment of rent. The court ruled for landlord and awarded landlord attorney's fees. Tenant appealed the attorney's fees award. The appeals court ruled for tenant. The case concerned the question of landlord's entitlement to fuel adjustment charges and MCI rent hikes. Tenant claimed that landlord wasn't entitled to the MCI rent hike because it had applied for a J-51 tax, which would result in a rent reduction rather than a rent hike. After the nonpayment trial, the DHCR ruled that landlord had gotten the tax abatement but hadn't distributed rent rebates to tenant. The DHCR ordered landlord to refund or credit to tenant the excess rent collected retroactive to July 1, 1997. The ultimate result was that neither side prevailed in the rent dispute, and so neither side should get attorney's fees.

Jobman 478/480 LP v. Bell: NYLJ, 12/15/05, p. 27, col. 2 (App. T. 1 Dept.; McCooe, JP, Davis, Gangel-Jacob, JJ)