Cier Industries Co. v. Hessen

In Cier Industries Co. v. Hessen, 136 A.D.2d 145, 526 N.Y.S.2d 77 (1988) the Court reinstated the Civil Court's award of attorney's fees to a landlord stemming from a holdover proceeding brought against the tenant of a rent-stabilized apartment, based upon the tenant's failure to occupy the apartment as her primary residence as required by the rent stabilization laws. The Cier Industries court relied not solely upon the boilerplate lease language regarding attorney's fees, but more explicitly upon the terms of the lease that required the tenant to "surrender the premises upon the expiration of her lease." Id. at 147. In doing so, it found that the tenant had breached a covenant of her lease by failing to surrender the premises, entitling the landlord to recover under the attorney's fees provision.