Defendant's 1996 default was properly vacated pursuant to CPLR 317 upon evidence in the form of detailed affidavits which established that defendant had not personally received notice of the summons in time to defend, and that it had a meritorious defense to plaintiffs' slip-and-fall personal injury action (see Di Lorenzo, Inc. v. Dutton Lbr. Co., 67 N.Y.2d 138). There was no basis in the record to conclude that defendant had deliberately attempted to avoid service in this action by its failure to designate a new registered agent for service with the Secretary of State after its initial designated agent retired and closed his law office in 1982 (see Di Lorenzo, Inc., 67 N.Y.2d at 143; Brockington v. Brookfield Dev. Corp., 308 A.D.2d 498, 764 N.Y.S.2d 469).