Board of Managers of Central Park Place Condominium v. Potoschnig

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

Board of Managers of Central Park Place Condominium v. Potoschnig

136 A.D.3d 441, 23 N.Y.S.3d 888

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided February 4, 2016·No. 136 118205/09·Published

Opinion

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Eileen Rakower, J.), entered November 3, 2014, which confirmed the special referee’s recommendation to award plaintiff $89,174.48 in unpaid common charges, interest, assessments, electricity and late fees, and $144,377,68 in attorneys’ fees, unanimously modified, on the law, to vacate the award of attorneys’ fees, and remand the matter for a new hearing and determination of the amount of plaintiff’s reasonable attorneys’ fees, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.

The referee’s recommendation of $89,174.48 in unpaid common charges, interest, assessments, electricity and late fees is supported by the record (see Domingez v Zinnar, 130 AD3d 414, 415 [1st Dept 2015]).

However, there is no evidence in the record that the referee considered the relevant factors in determining reasonable attorneys’ fees (see Matter of Freeman, 34 NY2d 1, 9 [1974]; 1050 Tenants Corp. v Lapidus, 52 AD3d 248 [1st Dept 2008]), and since the hearing evidence is not, on its face, sufficient to show the reasonable amount of attorneys’ fees incurred by plaintiff, the referee’s recommendation as to attorneys’ fees should have been rejected (see e.g. 135 E. 57th St., LLC v 57th St. Day Spa, LLC, 126 AD3d 471 [1st Dept 2015]). Accordingly we remand for a new hearing and determination of the amount of plaintiff’s reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Concur — Tom, J.P., Friedman, Sweeny, Acosta and Andrias, JJ.

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Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Eileen Rakower, J.), entered November 3, 2014, which confirmed the special referee’s recommendation to award plaintiff $89,174.48 in unpaid common charges, interest, assessments, electricity and late fees, and $144,377,68 in attorneys’ fees, unanimously modified, on the law, to vacate the award of attorneys’ fees, and remand the matter for a new hearing and determination of the amount of plaintiff’s reasonable attorneys’ fees, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.

The referee’s recommendation of $89,174.48 in unpaid common charges, interest, assessments, electricity and late fees is supported by the record (see Domingez v Zinnar, 130 AD3d 414, 415 [1st Dept 2015]).

However, there is no evidence in the record that the referee considered the relevant factors in determining reasonable attorneys’ fees (see Matter of Freeman, 34 NY2d 1, 9 [1974]; 1050 Tenants Corp. v Lapidus, 52 AD3d 248 [1st Dept 2008]), and since the hearing evidence is not, on its face, sufficient to show the reasonable amount of attorneys’ fees incurred by plaintiff, the referee’s recommendation as to attorneys’ fees should have been rejected (see e.g. 135 E. 57th St., LLC v 57th St. Day Spa, LLC, 126 AD3d 471 [1st Dept 2015]). Accordingly we remand for a new hearing and determination of the amount of plaintiff’s reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Concur — Tom, J.P., Friedman, Sweeny, Acosta and Andrias, JJ.

Board of Managers of Central Park Place Condominium v. Potoschnig, 136 A.D.3d 441, 23 N.Y.S.3d 888 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2016).

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