Lease Cancellation by Written Notice Sent by Certified Mail

In Arziliant v. Eagle Chase Associates, 213 AD2d 573, 624 N.Y.S.2d 238(2nd Dept. 1995), a lease provided that the tenant could exercise an option to cancel by a written notice sent by certified mail. The notice recipient alleged it was not received, giving rise to the issue as to whether notice had been properly given. The sender was unable to establish that the notice had been sent by certified mail and the recipient denied receipt. "While a rebuttable presumption of receipt based on proof of regular mailing may be available in cases where regular mailing is itself sufficient to comply with the requirements of the law, or with the requirements of the parties' contract, we do not believe that this presumption is available to the plaintiff herein, in the absence of sufficient evidence attesting to the mailing of the ...letter itself, or to the existence of an office practice geared to ensure the proper addressing or mailing of [correspondence]". See, also, New York and Presbyterian Hosp. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 29 AD3d 547, 814 N.Y.S.2d 687(2nd Dept. 2006).