Article 83. Disbursements and Additional Allowances · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
An additional allowance is a further sum awarded on top of costs and disbursements, and CPLR 8302 provides one that a qualifying plaintiff is entitled to as a matter of right rather than as a matter of the court's discretion. Subdivision (a) limits the entitlement to three kinds of actions: foreclosing a mortgage on real property, partitioning real property, and compelling the determination of a claim to real property. The plaintiff must have judgment entered in its favor and have recovered costs before the additional allowance applies.
Subdivision (b) sets the formula: ten percent of the first two hundred dollars of the amount due or the value involved, plus five percent of the next eight hundred dollars, plus two percent of the next two thousand dollars, plus one percent of the next five thousand dollars, producing a sliding scale that yields a smaller percentage as the amount at stake grows. Subdivision (c) applies half those rates when the action settles before judgment, and subdivision (d) adds a flat fifty dollar allowance specifically for foreclosure actions, along with rules for computing the allowance when only part of the mortgage debt is due or when the court orders sale of only part of the property.
Three kinds: an action to foreclose a mortgage on real property, an action for the partition of real property, and an action to compel the determination of a claim to real property.
No. Subdivision (a) frames it as an entitlement: a plaintiff who has judgment entered in its favor and recovers costs in one of the qualifying actions is entitled to the allowance, unlike the discretionary allowances available under CPLR 8303.
Subdivision (b) uses a sliding percentage: ten percent of the first two hundred dollars of the amount due or value involved, five percent of the next eight hundred dollars, two percent of the next two thousand dollars, and one percent of the next five thousand dollars.
Under subdivision (c), a plaintiff in a qualifying action that settles before judgment still gets an additional allowance, computed on the amount paid in settlement, but at half the rates that would apply under subdivision (b).
Yes. Subdivision (d) adds a flat fifty dollar allowance in a mortgage foreclosure action, on top of the percentage-based allowance under subdivision (a) or (c), along with rules for computing the allowance when the judgment covers only part of the mortgage debt.
Costs under CPLR 8201 are a flat statutory amount tied to the stage of the case. The CPLR 8302 additional allowance is a separate, further sum tied to the value of the property or debt involved, available only in the specific real-property actions the section names.
Subd (a) of this section is derived from part of CPA § 1512. Two classes of actions have been omitted. The first, an action to procure an adjudication upon a will or other instrument in writing, is covered by a 1957 enactment allowing unlimited discretionary allowances in construction matters. CPA § 1514-a, added by Laws 1957, c. 89; cf CPLR § 8303(a)(4). The second, an action in which an attachment has been granted, does not seem to warrant special treatment. Under modern conditions, attachment is no more difficult or time-consuming a procedure than other provisional remedies or, indeed, than many other ordinary procedures. As a result of these deletions, the subdivision is limited to certain real property actions.
Subd (b) of this section is derived from part of CPA § 1512. Except for deletions to conform to the deletions made in subd (a), no change has been made.
Subd (c) of this section is derived from subparagraph 5 of CPA § 1512. No change is intended.
The first sentence of subd (d) of this section is derived from CPA § 1512-a. Since the former section apparently prescribed the same fixed amount whether or not the action was settled, this subdivision is so worded. No change is intended. The remainder of this subdivision is derived from subparagraph 6 of CPA § 1512, without change.
Add, L 1962, ch 308, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1963.