225 A.D.2d 520 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1996
The plaintiff contends that the award of an offset to the defendant was against the weight of the evidence. We disagree. The Supreme Court’s decision to award the defendant an offset of $12,200 for repairs to her two bathrooms was a fair interpretation of the evidence and in accord with the plaintiff’s Offering Plan.
The plaintiff was entitled to the reasonable attorney’s fees it incurred to recover the defendant’s unpaid common charges (see, Frisch v Bellmarc Mgt., 190 AD2d 383; Board of Mgrs. v Shandel, 143 Misc 2d 1084). Reasonable attorney’s fees are properly awarded when authorized by agreement, statute, or court rule (see, Matter of A. G. Ship Maintenance Corp. v Lezak, 69 NY2d 1). The plaintiff’s by-laws specifically provided that the plaintiff was entitled to collect reasonable attorney’s fees it incurred trying to foreclose a lien for common charges.
While we also find that the plaintiff was entitled to late charges and interest on the unpaid common charges, the plaintiff was not entitled to late charges and interest from December 1987 through May 1989, during which period the plaintiff and the defendant agreed that the common charges would be held in escrow. Accordingly, the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Westchester County, to compute the amounts of interest and late fees owed to the plaintiff.
The defendant’s remaining contention is without merit. Bracken, J. P., Rosenblatt, Miller and Friedmann, JJ., concur.