Frank B. Hall & Co. v. Orient Overseas Assocs

In Frank B. Hall & Co. v. Orient Overseas Assocs., 84 A.D.2d 338 (1st Dept.), aff'd 56 N.Y.2d 965 (1982) the court denied the landlord's application for attorney's fees because the lease provided that fees could only be awarded in a situation where the tenant defaults and the landlord reenters the premises and dispossesses the tenant. It was held that the lease could only serve as a basis to recover attorney's fees "where the landlord has taken some action, either by summary proceeding or otherwise, to re-enter the demised premises." (Id. at 342).