Opinion
November 8, 1984
Appeal from the Supreme Court, First Department (Ralph Waldo Sparks, J.).
Section 226-b (subd 2, par [c]) of the Real Property Law provides that where a landlord unreasonably withholds consent to a tenant's request to sublet premises, the tenant, nevertheless, "may sublet in accordance with the request and may recover the costs of the proceeding and attorneys fees if it is found that the owner acted in bad faith by withholding consent."
On appeal from the Civil Court judgment that awarded compensatory damages on tenant respondents' counterclaim, attorney's fees and punitive damages, Appellate Term appropriately struck the trial court's award of punitive damages and ruled that because each side prevailed in part, they should each bear responsibility for their counsel fees. Permitting the award of compensatory damages to stand, however, was error.
As pointed out above, the statute expressly limits the remedies available to a tenant in instances such as this and those remedies are exclusive ( Vance v Century Apts. Assoc., 61 N.Y.2d 716). Moreover, the provisions of the statute "apply to leases entered into or renewed before or after the effective date of [the amendment: June 30, 1983]" (Real Property Law, § 226-b, subd 3; Vance v Century Apts. Assoc., supra).
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Ross, Carro, Milonas and Alexander, JJ. [ 124 Misc.2d 1087.]