Small claims court: Can you sue for additional damages for "inconvenience?"

[Alley_Dweller]

@md2000

Just watched the Netflix episode on Jared Kushner (“Slumlord Millionaire”). In one bit, he’s going after a former tenant who no longer has the papers from several years ago indicating she was permitted to move out early. She is being sued for several hundred in back rent, PLUS attorney fees for the process, making it almost $5,000. So I assume in some such small claims cases, attorney costs are part of the moneys recoverable?

But as I understand it, Small Claims does not get into intangibles like pain and suffering - you have to have an actual out-of-pocket expense to claim.

I googled “New York residential lease.” I came up with countless web sites that show what they claim is a standard New York residential lease. They are not all the same, but the couple I looked at both had a clause similar to this:

ATTORNEYS’ FEES. Should it become necessary for Landlord to employ an attorney to enforce any of the conditions or covenants hereof, including the collection of rentals or gaining possession of the Premises, Tenant agrees to pay all expenses so incurred, including a reasonable attorneys’ fee.

So I don’t know whether there is a general rule in NY small claims court about recovering attorney costs, but it appears that in a typical lease, the tenant agrees to pay the landlord’s attorneys’ fees. So I would guess that if the defendant has agreed to pay attorneys’ fees, that agreement is enforceable in a NY small claims court.

[UltraVires]

@Alley_Dweller

I googled “New York residential lease.” I came up with countless web sites that show what they claim is a standard New York residential lease. They are not all the same, but the couple I looked at both had a clause similar to this:

So I don’t know whether there is a general rule in NY small claims court about recovering attorney costs, but it appears that in a typical lease, the tenant agrees to pay the landlord’s attorneys’ fees. So I would guess that if the defendant has agreed to pay attorneys’ fees, that agreement is enforceable in a NY small claims court.

That’s another good point. If you have contractually obliged yourself to pay attorneys fees to the winning party, it can be enforced that way.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

In Ohio small claims courts, attorney fees are not held against the $6k maximum that you can otherwise win (for many years it was just $3k). Costs such as filing fees, witness fees, photocopying costs, etc. can be recovered. Pain and suffering, or lost wages for time spent in court, typically cannot.