Nuisance abatement remedies The threshold remedy for a nuisance is for the public officer to order the owner to abate the nuisance; that is, to repair those conditions that have led a property to be deemed a nuisance. Sec. 8 Timetable for court action The complaint is heard by Superior Court as a summary (expedited) proceeding. Properties are continually being abandoned, and, to a greater or lesser degree, continually being removed from that state through rehabilitation or demolition. The public officer has certain fundamental responsibilities under any ordinance implementing the state statute: To issue complaints against owners, either on his or her own motion or in response to petitions from others. The decision must always be based on the entitys determination that it can realistically rehabilitate the building and place it into productive use, should the owner be unwilling to do so. The ability to see abandoned properties in their spatial relationship to other properties such as proposed housing developments, new school or community facility sites, etc. While the law does not require the public officer to add the property immediately to the list, it is reasonable to assume that he or she must do so in a timely fashion. DEVELOPMENT NETWORK OF N.J. 4, 5 (2005). While the Q&A below addresses the most important features of the act, parties interested in pursuing this remedy should study the entire act in detail before taking action. The public officer must decide the appeal within 10 days of the hearing, and notify the owner of the decision promptly, by certified and regular mail. The party must then notify the public officer at least 10 days before the hearing that it plans to participate, and the nature of the testimony or other information that it plans to present at the hearing (N.J.S.A.55:19-105.b.). The law specifies that the designation is made by resolution of the governing body, except that in strong mayor cities, the designation is made by the mayor. The public officer holds a hearing The public officer must schedule a hearing on any timely appeal within 30 days of receipt of the appeal. 1.2. (The ordinance must be preceded by a governing body resolution finding that building conditions potentially leading to nuisances exist in the municipality. Under New Jersey law, a municipality can take title to a property through eminent domain by depositing what it considers to be fair market value with the court, even if the owner disputes the valuation of the property. While most prevalent in urban areas, abandoned properties are also found in many suburban and rural areas. The municipality can also require the bidder to submit a timetable for action. Step 4: The owner either carries out the steps required by the order during the time permitted, or fails to do so. Designation of the public officer is made by resolution of the governing body, except for municipalities operating under the Faulkner Act mayor-council (strong mayor) plan where the authority to designate the public officer falls to the mayor (N.J.S.A.55:19-80). In a city with large numbers of problem properties, they cannot all be addressed at once. ; j j . this includes shares held in street name. All costs incurred by the municipality and/or the entity in bringing action with respect to the property. Cities organized under the "mayor-council plan" of the Optional Municipal Charter Law (Faulkner Act), N.J.S.A.40:69A-1 et seq. The timing of when an owner should be permitted to move to regain control of his property is a delicate issue in vacant property receivership. Receivership and possession 57 5.1 Possession: vacant property receivership 57 The purpose of possession 57 Possession step by step 59 Using possession 67 5.2 Rental receivership 72 An overview of the multifamily housing preservation and receivership act 73 Using receivership 76 6. It requires thoughtful, practical yet visionary, planning. If the complaint is brought by a tenant who is in default of a material obligation under the law (such as non-payment of rent), the court may dismiss the complaint. While New Jersey has had laws permitting receivership on the books for many years, they were inadequate in many respects, and as a result, were rarely used. As noted above, the list does not have to include every abandoned property in the municipality. In the event two or more bidders meet the minimum qualifications and other requirements of the special tax sale, the municipality may designate an unsuccessful but qualified bidder as a backup purchaser. Since the tax foreclosure will wipe out the property interests of the private lien holders, the courts have held that municipalities have an affirmative duty to notify anyone who has a potential interest in the property. 2877 (the Act), which improves the guidance provided to local governments concerning the establishment of registration policies to address the risk of blight of commercial and residential properties. Owner or lienholder may file notice of appeal. About Unclaimed and Abandoned Property. These tools are designed to address two separate areas: Maintaining vacant lots Securing, demolishing and/or stabilizing vacant buildings This section will provide a short overview of the tasks that must be addressed by any entity taking responsibility for managing a vacant property inventory, and the tools that are availableTABLE 3.2 TOOLS FOR MANAGING A VACANT PROPERTY INVENTORY CATEGORYRESOURCE/ACTIVITYTOOLKITVacant LotsOngoing maintenance__Create in-house maintenance crew __Utilize involuntary resources (inmates, community service workers) __Utilize youth organizations __Enlist support of neighborhood organizations __Establish management information system to maximize efficient use of available resourcesInterim uses__ Enlist support of citywide and regional Organizations __Provide minimal open space treatment __Work with community organizations to create community gardens, playgrounds and mini-parksPrevention of illegal dumping__Impose strong penalties for illegal dumping __Offer legal opportunities for debris disposal __Increase surveillance of vacant lotsVacant BuildingsBoarding__Establish a boarding protocol __Establish technical standards for all boarding __Create in-house boarding crew or 24/7 outside boarding contract __Use aesthetic boardingOther securing treatment__Schedule regular interior cleaning of vacant buildings __Fence selected vacant buildingsDemolition__Establish consultative process for determining which buildings to demolish __Establish fast-track demolition process __Adopt technical standards for demolition including removal of all foundations and footingsStabilization__Establish consultative process for determining which buildings to stabilize for future rehab __Adopt technical standards for stabilization for that purpose. In all cases, the court has discretion to impose such conditions on the entity taking control of the building to protect the interests of the tenants and the neighborhood in which the building is located. The owner must be given the right to regain the property from the entity in possession after the entity has commenced rehabilitation. How can the receiver obtain funds to rehabilitate the property? 113 KB 09 February, 2023 1 PAGE 1 OF 1 Link for Google Indexing of files For more information on the Abandoned Property Rehabilitation Act (APRA) law, please click here. 3.1 of the Guidebook beginning on page ___. This information must be gathered both for purposes of identification and to address the notice requirements of the law. It is important to look at capacity in the context of the specific project. Failure to follow through on that commitment will at a minimum be embarrassing for both the municipality and the rehabilitation entity, but may also hasten the loss of the building, and, depending on the circumstances, potentially raise the possibility of a claim for damages by the owner. If not, the property can be placed in the hands of a qualified entity, such as a CDC, a historic preservation organization, or a firm highly skilled at rehabilitation. In many cases, however, success will depend on help from the municipality, either through direct financial assistance such as HOME or CDBG funds, or indirect financial assistance such as tax abatement. This is where having a property on the list can be particularly useful, since one of the most powerful tools triggered by the list is the ability to exercise what is known as spot blight eminent domain. Some commercial strips are heavily abandoned even where nearby residential areas are sound, because the residents, in todays automobile-oriented society, no longer find them competitive with other shopping areas they can easily reach in their cars. The steps in the notice and appeal process along with the timetable for each step are summarized in Table 2.2 and described more fully below. Difficult as it may be, the rewards of a successful receivership are substantial. If the lienholder does not commence foreclosure, however, within six months from the date the property initially appeared on the list, the property is automatically restored to the list, and once restored to the list, remains there. In addition to these responsibilities, I have been designated by ordinance/by the mayor to carry out the responsibilities of the public officer pursuant to the Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act, P.L.2003, c.210. While all of these criteria require some exercise of judgment by the public officer, most fall into areas, such as fire, health or safety hazards, that have traditionally been the purview of municipal code officials. Tax liens sold through a special tax sale may revert to the municipality if the buyer fails to carry out any provision that has been established as a condition of sale. At least one installment of property tax remains unpaid and delinquent as of the date of determination. In the case of an office or retail building in an inner-city location, even though the demand may exist for the space, the rents that the building can command may not be adequate to cover the debt service on the funds that would have to be borrowed to pay for the rehabilitation. Vacating and closing the building. b.A property which is used on a seasonal basis shall be deemed to be abandoned only if the property meets any two of the additional criteria set forth in section 4 of P.L.2003, c.210 (C.55:19-81). Nowhere is that more important than with respect to abandoned properties. 4.4 Using nuisance abatement strategically A municipality can use its nuisance abatement powers sparingly, by limiting its activities to responding to complaints or emergencies, or it can use them in more strategic fashion, as part of a larger strategy to stabilize neighborhoods and address the communitys problem properties. Improving a building that has been allowed to deteriorate over many years, while protecting the interests of sitting tenants, is an extremely difficult task, not to be undertaken lightly. The Tax Sale Law: An Overview In New Jersey, as in other states, property owners are legally required to pay property taxes on their holdings, as well as pay other municipal charges to which they may be liable, such as sewer and water charges, special assessments, or liens for abating nuisances such as boarding a property, or removing debris from the grounds of a property. Abandoned properties erode public health, by harboring infestation by rats and vermin, and becoming illegal dumping grounds for construction debris and garbage. The complaint must be served on all parties with a legal interest in the property, including the owner and any lien or mortgage holder. Legal tools. Chapter 6 discusses how these tools can be pulled together to create an abandoned property strategy in a particular city or town. If the inventory contains a substantial number of vacant lots, a reliable, full-time maintenance crew is likely to be necessary. New Jersey law requires all municipalities to offer the tax liens on tax delinquent properties to buyers at regular tax sales. The process is divided into three steps, as follows: Providing notice and offering owners the opportunity to appeal inclusion on the list. This does not mean that the public officer can arbitrarily pick and choose from among the abandoned properties in the community for the list. The municipality may want to do that if it has highly qualified legal staff, particularly if it believes - based on the particular facts of a specific building - that the owner is likely to step forward and rehabilitate the building herself. The court shall hold a hearing on any such petition after receiving a report from the receiver with its recommendations for action on the owners petition. Immediately with enactment of a vacant property list ordinance, or even before, the public officer should initiate a database containing information about properties known to be vacant, including the earliest date at which the vacant status of the property is documented. These systems are specific to the property level, as well as being capable of generating small area data for neighborhood information systems. Baby stuck in Mexico after couple used surrogacy agency there - The We hope that this Guidebook will give local governments, community organizations and citizens a better understanding of these and other tools available under New Jersey law, helping them turn problem properties into opportunities, and return abandoned properties to productive use. New Jersey Department of the Treasury. 4.3 Nuisance abatement procedure The procedure through which a nuisance abatement action takes place is set forth generally in N.J.S.A.40:48-2.5, and is shown in graphic form in Chart 4.1 on the following page. 260 To request a copy of the Abandoned Property List, please CLICK HERE. As a result, abandoned property strategies are usually most effective when they are carried out as a partnership between local government and private entities qualified to rehabilitate or otherwise reuse the properties. (The owner can also get a property removed from the list by restoring the property to sound condition or making a firm commitment to do so. I am the [TITLE] of the [MUNICIPAL TYPE AND MUNICIPALITY], a Municipal Corporation of New Jersey located in the County of [NAME], with offices at [LOCATION OF OFFICE] and have served in that capacity for [NUMBER] years. Possession ends. New Jersey Unclaimed Money Property ;& Funds New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 55:19-105 (2021) - Justia Law In addition to the right to accelerate the foreclosure, the tax lien holder also has the right, from the date that she purchased the tax sale certificate, to enter the property after written notice by certified mail to the owner, in order to make repairs or remedy harmful conditions (N.J.S.A. From a practical standpoint, there is no downside to making the list municipality-wide. Such systems can be set up with password protection for confidential information. They must be maintained in two important respects: Growth of grass and weeds must be regularly controlled Trash, debris and junk need to be regularly removed. The municipality may set a variety of qualifications and performance requirements, which it can use to limit who can bid at a special tax sale. 30 Creation of abandoned property list by petition The law establishes a procedure whereby if a municipality does not create an abandoned property list, an ordinance to do so can be proposed by petition. hh CJ An Overview of the Multifamily Housing Preservation and Receivership Act Briefly summarized, if an occupied residential building meets certain conditions under the act, the court may appoint a receiver to both operate and restore the property. This analysis, known as a pro forma analysis, should be conducted either by the municipality or by the potential entity in possession, and carefully reviewed before making a decision about whether to go forward with possession. f f f j . The list consists of those properties that the public officer determines to be abandoned, based on the statutory definition. (Any entity responsible for vacant buildings must recognize that boarding is only partially effective, and that re-boarding is often necessary. Each of the steps is discussed below, as is the procedure by which owners can subsequently remove their properties from the abandoned property list. If you suspect a property in the Borough of Allentown is vacant or abandoned, call 609-758-7738 to report it. Equally important, in some communities, abandoned properties may be scattered and few in number, while in others they may be concentrated in a few heavily impacted areas. The most effective tool in that framework is vacant property receivership or possession, not least because it may well motivate the owner of the property to come forward and restore it rather than risk losing it altogether. Although the gift process takes properties off the tax rolls, at least temporarily, the properties in question are usually already effectively off the rolls by the time the gift is made. Before describing how a list is created, we must first define precisely what constitute abandoned properties under New Jersey law. h(V CJ The owner demonstrates to the satisfaction of the public officer that the conditions that led to the property being put on the abandoned property list have been remedied in fullThe owner initiates work to remedy the conditions. in order to gain control of vacant lots or take other actions against those properties. (The length of time from the point an entity decides to bring an action for possession, and notifies the owner, until the order is likely to be issued, will vary widely, depending largely on whether the owner, and/or a lienholder, chooses to contest the action by proposing to carry out the rehabilitation themselves. As defined by the NJ Department of Treasury Unclaimed Property Administration: "Unclaimed property consists of many types of intangible and tangible properties that have been unclaimed by its rightful owner for a specific period of time. The court may waive the bond requirement for good cause, and may set additional requirements as conditions of reinstatement to protect the interests of the tenants and/or the neighborhood. Under what conditions can the building be sold by the receiver? In addition, since there are different abandonment triggers affecting different property types, identifying those types may also help identify specific conditions that may be leading to abandonment, as illustrated in Table 6.1 The presence of numerous abandoned single family homes, for example, may be an indicator of foreclosure associated with predatory lending or home repair schemes. If the owner fails to carry out any step in the approved plan, the public officer or the entity may apply to the court to have the bond forfeit and possession transferred to the entity with authority to use the bond proceeds for the rehabilitation of the building. An example might be a 1920s apartment building on a major street being held by a speculator who is more interested in the ultimate value of the land than in preserving the building. > Legal Topics > Housing > Home Ownership > Foreclosure . Using possession Possession is a powerful tool. STEP 2: CREATING THE LISTOnce the ordinance has been enacted, a specific procedure to create the abandoned property list must be followed. The municipality may add properties to the abandoned property list at any time (N.J.S.A.55:19-55.b.). Possession entitles the entity to receive grants or borrow money from state agencies or other sources, and to secure funds it borrows with a lien that has priority over all existing liens other than municipal liens. In this situation, the city should focus on strategic targeting of problem properties, in which nuisance abatement is directed to properties or geographic areas selected for particular reasons, such as: Properties within a neighborhood targeted for preservation or revitalization activities, particularly properties that have a disproportionate impact on the properties around them. This is a separate procedure described on page ___. Where one finds that property taxes are being paid by a mortgagee, that mortgagee may be willing to sell the mortgage to the city or a CDC at a discount, enabling the city then to foreclose and take title. 8 $1 million from the first $4 million set aside for this purpose is to be used to make grants to nonprofit entities to build their capacity to act as receivers as well as carry out other property management activities that will further the preservation of affordable housing. A public officer who did so would be legitimately subject to criticism, and the validity of the list might be subject to legal question at the point it was used as a basis for municipal action. Since every urban municipality or CDC is financially constrained, they should target their resources to accomplish the communitys goals in the most cost-effective manner, and to leverage private money wherever possible. It goes beyond nuisance abatement by incorporating the positive goal of preservation, rather than solely eliminating a negative feature of the property. In each of these cases, the city can leverage its ability to carry out nuisance abatement by linking those activities to other resources and activities being carried out by the municipality, CDCs, developers and others. Where the municipality pays less than fair market value, the owner may be able to take the difference between the purchase price and the fair market value as a tax deduction. Rehabilitation Law, Chapter 210 of the Laws of 2003, as enacted by the New Jersey State Legislature and signed into law by Governor McGreevey on January 8, 2004.
