Appeal from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Lisa S. Ottley, J.), entered September 12, 2013. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $5,000 and dismissed defendant Michele Hanna's counterclaim.

ORDERED that so much of the appeal as was taken by defendant Rodney Gripper from the portion of the judgment that dismissed defendant Michele Hanna's counterclaim is dismissed, as defendant Rodney Gripper is not aggrieved by that portion of the judgment (see CPLR 5511); and it is further,

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.

Plaintiff commenced this small claims action to recover the principal sum of $5,000 for rent arrears and property damage. Defendant Michele Hanna counterclaimed for $5,000 for an "overcharge." At a nonjury trial, plaintiff's witness testified that defendants had failed to pay four months' rent of $1,550 per month and that they had caused damage to plaintiff's personal property, which required repairs, as evidenced by receipts totaling $4,879. Defendants testified that they had given plaintiff a security deposit, which had been applied by plaintiff to pay the rent for two of the months sought in this action, and that plaintiff had breached the warranty of habitability. The Civil Court found plaintiff's witness credible and that defendant Michele Hanna had failed to establish damages on her "overcharge" counterclaim. A judgment was entered awarding plaintiff the principal sum of $5,000, the monetary jurisdictional limit of the Small Claims Part of the court, and dismissing the counterclaim.

In a small claims action, our review is limited to a determination of whether "substantial justice has . . . been done between the parties according to the rules and principles of substantive law" (CCA 1807; see CCA 1804; Ross v Friedman, 269 AD2d 584 [2000]; Williams v Roper, 269 AD2d 125, 126 [2000]). Furthermore, the determination of a trier of fact as to issues of credibility is given substantial deference, as a trial court's opportunity to observe and evaluate the testimony and demeanor of the witnesses affords it a better perspective from which to assess their credibility (see Vizzari v State of New York, 184 AD2d 564 [1992]; Kincade v Kincade, 178 AD2d 510, 511 [1991]). This deference applies with greater force to judgments rendered in the Small Claims Part of the court (see Williams v Roper, 269 AD2d at 126). Here, the evidence, as credited by the trial court, established that plaintiff had incurred damages in excess of $5,000, even after crediting defendants for two months' rent, and that defendant Michele Hanna had [*2]failed to establish her damages.

We reject defendants' contention that the court demonstrated bias against them. We further find that defendants' remaining contentions lack merit.

Accordingly, as the court's determination provided the parties with substantial justice (see CCA 1804, 1807), the judgment is affirmed.

Solomon, J.P., Weston and Elliot, JJ., concur.