Answer
§ 743. Answer. Except as provided in section seven hundred thirty-two of this article, relating to a proceeding for non-payment of rent, at the time when the petition is to be heard the respondent, or any person in possession or claiming possession of the premises, may answer, orally or in writing. If the answer is oral the substance thereof shall be recorded by the clerk or, if a particular court has no clerk, by the presiding judge or justice of such court, and maintained in the case record. The answer may contain any legal or equitable defense, or counterclaim. The court may render affirmative judgment for the amount found due on the counterclaim.
Except in § 732 nonpayment cases, the respondent (or anyone in/claiming possession) may answer orally or in writing at the time the petition is heard. An oral answer's substance is recorded by the clerk (or the judge if there's no clerk) and kept in the record. ★ The answer may raise any legal or equitable defense, or a counterclaim, and the court can give affirmative judgment on the counterclaim.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 6 — The JG-22 Uniform Rules and Everything Else and in Volume 1 — The JG-22 in Plain English.