The Ten Day Notice of Termination began with a paragraph identical to the above-quoted paragraph from the Notice to Cure and then continued:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that YOU HAVE FAILED TO CURE THE [sic] EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED CONDITIONS. Therefore any occupancy agreement you have will terminate on March 8, 2008, which is not less than ten (10) days from the date of the service of the Notice to Cure. Therefore, you must vacate and surrender the possession of the premises to the Landlord/Owner forthwith. In the event that you fail to do so, the Landlord/Owner will commence summary proceedings to recover the possession of the premises.


The court granted the tenant’s motion, pursuant to CPLR 3211, to dismiss the petition based on flaws in the predicate notices. The court noted that “[a]ny one of the grounds alleged by the respondent, if proven, would be fatal to the prosecution of this proceeding,” and found that “every allegation raised has been proven.”

One basis asserted for dismissal was the failure to serve a predicate notice issued by the owner. The notice to cure was signed at the bottom “Lee M. Nigen, Attorney for Landlord/Owner William & Florence Williamsen.” The notice of termination was also signed by the attorney.

Section 2524.2 of the Rent Stabilization Code, captioned “Termination Notices,” in subparagraph “a,” refers to “the owner” as being the one who “shall have given written notice.” Similarly, section 2524.3 of the Rent Stabilization Code refers to the tenant “violating a substantial allegation of his or her tenancy” and “fail[ing] to cure such violation after written notice by the owner . . . ” (emphasis added).

In the case of Siegel v. Kentucky Fried Chicken,2 cited by the court in Williamsen, the Court of Appeals stated that:

[A] notice of termination signed by an agent or attorney who is not named in the lease as authorized to act for the landlord in such matters, and which is not authenticated or accompanied by proof of the latter’s authority to bind the landlord in giving of such notice, is legally insufficient to terminate the tenancy. 3

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