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NEW JERSEY PASSES FORECLOSURE REFORM BILLS AIMED TO ASSIST COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS WITH HOMES IN FORECLOSURE
May 3, 2019 Posted in Community Association Law Share
On April 29, 2019, New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy signed into law two new amendments that provide relief to community associations with homes in foreclosure. When a unit or a home in a community association is in foreclosure and does not pay assessments, it will ultimately be left for other owners in the community to pay them.
Currently, the New Jersey Condominium Act allows condominium associations the right to collect up to 6 months of unpaid assessments when a condominium unit is foreclosed. The limited priority status of the lien allows the condominium association to collect the priority of its lien ahead of a mortgage lender and other lien holders.
Under the new amendment, known as A5002/S3413, the 6-month limited priority over prior recorded mortgages and other liens to other community associations, not just condominium associations. What this means is that both New Jersey condominium and homeowners’ associations (HOA’s) (as defined under the Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act [PREDFA]), are now able to renew their 6-month aggregate assessments once per year. Thus, if it takes a lender several years to foreclose, a condominium association and an HOA can collect 6 months’ worth of assessments for each year the lien is renewed, for up to 5 years. However, this amendment does not apply to cooperatives.
The full text of A5002/S3413 may be found at: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/A9999/5002_R1.PDF.
Additionally, New Jersey passed A5005/S3413, which amends New Jersey’s Fair Foreclosure Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:50-53 et seq. A5005/S3413 expedites foreclosures of vacant and abandoned properties by:
- allowing representatives of a common interest community association to certify that a property is vacant and abandoned;
- requiring a sheriff’s sale of a vacant and abandoned property within 90 days of final judgment; and
- allowing a lender to apply for a Special Master or judicial agent to sell the property within 90 days if it becomes apparent that the sheriff cannot comply with the expedited sale.
The full text of A5005/S3413 may be found at https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/A9999/5005_R2.PDF.
If you are a community association member or a manager of a community association with questions about how this new legislation may affect your community, please contact our skilled attorneys at Griffin Alexander, P.C.
The information in this Client Alert is provided solely for information purposes. It should not be construed as legal advice on any specific matter and is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. The information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based upon particular circumstances. Each legal matter is unique, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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