Where a statute gives a pecuniary penalty or forfeiture not exceeding a specified sum, the whole sum or a part proportionate to the offense may be awarded.
§ 7204.Recovery of part of penalty or forfeiture.
Article 72. Recovery of Penalty or Forfeiture · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 7204 lets a court award the full statutory penalty or forfeiture, or a lesser amount proportioned to the seriousness of the offense, whenever the underlying statute caps the penalty at a specified sum instead of fixing it at a single figure.
Full Text of CPLR 7204
Plain-English Summary
Not every statutory penalty is a flat, fixed number. Some statutes set a ceiling instead — a pecuniary penalty or forfeiture not exceeding a specified sum — and leave it to the court to decide how much of that ceiling the conduct warrants. Section 7204 confirms that the court can award the whole amount or only a part of it, scaled to how serious the underlying offense was.
That flexibility matters in actions under sections 7201 through 7203, where the penalty being pursued may come from a statute written with exactly this cap. Instead of treating every violation as deserving the maximum, section 7204 lets the court calibrate the award to the facts of the particular offense, within the limit the underlying statute set.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a New York court have to award the maximum penalty allowed by a capped statute?
No. CPLR 7204 lets the court award the full sum or only a proportionate part of it, based on how serious the offense was.
What determines how much of a capped statutory penalty a court awards?
The gravity of the offense. Section 7204 ties the award to the seriousness of the conduct instead of requiring the statutory maximum in every case.
Does CPLR 7204 apply to every type of statutory penalty case?
It applies specifically where the underlying statute gives a pecuniary penalty or forfeiture not exceeding a specified sum, instead of one fixed at a single, definite amount.
Does CPLR 7204 apply when the statute sets a single, fixed penalty amount instead of a ceiling?
No. Section 7204 is written for statutes that cap the penalty at a sum not to exceed a certain figure; it has no role where the statute names one fixed amount with no range.
Who decides how much of the capped penalty gets awarded in a given case?
The court does, weighing the seriousness of the offense against the statutory ceiling. CPLR 7204 gives the court that discretion instead of requiring the maximum figure by default.
Advisory Committee Notes
This section is derived from CPA § 1182. Although it has been considerably shortened, no substantive change has been made. The amount of the recovery cannot exceed the sum prescribed by statute, although it may be less than such sum. City of Buffalo v George P. Ray Mfg. Co. (1910, Sup) 124 NYS 913; CPA § 1182. Thus, in an action under CPA § 1184, interest from the date of forfeiture was held not allowable. People v Parisi (1916) 217 NY 24, 111 NE 253.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, eff Sept 1, 1963.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: partial statutory penalty award New Yorkproportionate penalty capped forfeiture New Yorkmaximum vs partial statutory fine New York lawsuit