In Wertentiel v. Coe, 132 Misc 2d 216, 503 N.Y.S.2d 692 (Civ. Ct. NY Co. 1986), the Court held that where the rent control statute required notice from the owner or lessor, a termination notice signed by the landlord's attorney unaccompanied by proof of the attorney's authority to bind the landlord was legally insufficient. In Wertentiel, the Court noted that there was no lease between the parties and Real Property Law 232-a, which governed termination of the month-to-month tenancy, permitted the termination notice to be sent by the landlord's agent. The landlord made no claim that the tenant knew the attorney that signed the notice. Nevertheless, the overriding factor for the Court was the Rent Law governing rent control leaseholds, which required notice emanating only from the "owner" or "lessor."