Appeal from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County, (George J. Silver, J.), entered October 24, 2007. The judgment, insofar as appealed from, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff only the principal sum of $1,500 on his claim and awarded defendant the principal sum of $2,408 on his counterclaim.

Judgment, insofar as appealed from, modified by increasing the award to plaintiff to the principal sum of $1,550; as so modified, affirmed without costs.

In this small claims action, plaintiff seeks to recover from defendant, his former tenant, $3,098, representing two months' rent at the rate of $1,500 per month, $50 in rent for a driveway for April 2007, and $48 for excess water usage. Defendant interposed a counterclaim to recover the sum of $4,500 for, inter alia, the return of the security deposit of $1,500, $908 for dry cleaning, and $1,779.91 for the purchase of new clothing to replace damaged clothing. The Civil Court awarded plaintiff $1,500, representing the unpaid rent for April 2007, and awarded defendant $1,500, representing the security deposit, and $908 for dry cleaning, for a total of $2,408 on defendant's counterclaim. Upon a review of the record, we find that the court erred only in failing to award plaintiff an additional $50, representing April's rent for the driveway, which the record indicates that defendant did not pay. Accordingly, substantial justice requires that the judgment, insofar as appealed from, be modified by increasing the principal amount awarded to plaintiff to the sum of $1,550 (CCA 1804, 1807; see Ross v Friedman, 269 AD2d 584 [2000]; Williams v Roper, 269 AD2d 125, 126 [2000]).

Pesce, P.J., Weston and Steinhardt, JJ., concur. [*2]
Decision Date: July 29, 2009