Appeal from a judgment of the Justice Court of the Town of Mount Kisco, Westchester County (John J. Donohue, J.), entered April 19, 2007. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $1,650.

Judgment modified by reducing the amount awarded plaintiff to the principal sum of $1,140.72; as so modified, affirmed without costs.

Plaintiff brought the instant small claims action to recover the principal sum of $2,850, representing the unpaid balance due for the installation of a heating and air-conditioning unit. Defendant interposed a counterclaim for $3,000 for damages allegedly resulting from plaintiff's defective installation. The evidence adduced at the nonjury trial established that defendant paid a third party the sum of $1,709.28 to make the necessary repairs to the system. However, following the trial, the Justice Court credited defendant only with the sum of $1,200 as an offset to the $2,850 due plaintiff and, thus, entered judgment in favor of plaintiff in the principal sum of $1,650.

In our view, substantial justice was not done between the parties in accordance with the rules and principles of substantive law (UJCA 1804, 1807). It is evident that the court below credited defendant's testimony regarding the counterclaim. Since defendant submitted a paid bill totaling $1,709.28 (see UJCA 1804), the judgment awarding plaintiff the principal sum of $1,650 should be reduced by $509.28 to the principal sum of $1,140.72.

Rudolph, P.J., Molia and Scheinkman, JJ., concur. [*2]
Decision Date: January 08, 2009