Under typical lease language, attorney fees and enforcement expenses are recoverable only if what condition is met?

• A. They are recoverable automatically by the prevailing party.
• B. They are recoverable only if agreed by the parties.
• C. They are never recoverable.
• D. They may be recovered only by the lessee regardless of outcome.

Answer: (B)

In contracts like leases, cost recovery for attorney fees and enforcement work isn’t automatic. The ability for either side to recover those costs depends on an explicit agreement in the lease. If the lease contains a clause that allows the prevailing party to recover attorney’s fees and enforcement expenses, then those costs can be recovered; if there’s no such clause, they aren’t recoverable.

So the condition that makes these costs recoverable is that the parties have agreed to it in the lease. Without that agreement, recovery generally won’t occur.