Appeal from a judgment of the Justice Court of the Town of Stony Point, Rockland County (William F. Franks, J.), entered January 5, 2012. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $3,000.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.

Plaintiff commenced this small claims action to recover defendant's share of an unpaid balance of a personal loan that plaintiff had given to defendant and her daughter, defendant's wife. At a nonjury trial, plaintiff introduced into evidence a written agreement wherein defendant had agreed to repay plaintiff "at least half" of the loan. Following the trial, the Justice Court awarded judgment in favor of plaintiff in the principal sum of $3,000.

In our view, substantial justice was done between the parties in accordance with the rules and principles of substantive law (see UJCA 1804, 1807; Ross v Friedman, 269 AD2d 584 [2000]; Williams v Roper, 269 AD2d 125 [2000]). The decision of a fact-finding court should not be disturbed upon appeal unless it is obvious that the court's conclusions could not be reached under any fair interpretation of the evidence (see Claridge Gardens v Menotti, 160 AD2d 544 [1990]). Here, despite defendant's contentions to the contrary, the Justice Court properly determined that it had jurisdiction to adjudicate this small claims action and that, since defendant, as a debtor, owed a separate duty to plaintiff, as a creditor, defendant's wife was not a necessary party to this action (see generally Stern v Stern, 282 AD2d 667 [2001]; Mazzola v Mazzola, 40 AD2d 1017 [1972]). In view of the foregoing, and as the record supports the trial court's credibility determination, we find no reason to disturb the judgment.

Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.

Nicolai, P.J., Iannacci and Tolbert, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: December 17, 2013