[Amended 2-22-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-2; 9-6-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-19; 4-4-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-08; 6-18-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-10]
The purposes of this article are to:
A. Create a Property Registration Program to identify and monitor residential
and commercial properties in the Township for which a summons and
complaint in an action to foreclose on a mortgage has been filed;
B. Regulate the care, maintenance, security, and upkeep of the exterior
of vacant and abandoned residential and commercial properties for
which a summons and complaint in an action to foreclose has been filed;
and
C. Impose property registration fees on the creditor of residential
or commercial properties on an annual basis.
All words, terms, and phrases used within this article shall
be defined and interpreted consistent with their meanings as outlined
within P.L. 2021, c. 444 (N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.12s1 et seq.), as may be
amended from time to time.
CREDITOR
A mortgagee or an agent or assignee of a mortgagee, such
as a servicer, who has filed a complaint in the Superior Court seeking
to foreclose upon a residential or commercial mortgage. If the entity
seeking to foreclose upon the residential or commercial mortgage changes
as a result of an assignment, transfer, or otherwise after the filing
of the foreclosure complaint in the Superior Court, the new entity
shall be deemed the creditor for purposes of this section. A creditor
shall not include the state, a political subdivision of the state,
or a state, county, or local government entity, or their agent or
assignee, such as the servicer.
FORECLOSURE
Legal process by which a mortgagee, or other lienholder,
terminates a property owner's equitable right of redemption to
obtain legal and equitable title to the real property pledged as security
for a debt or the real property subject to the lien. This definition
shall include, but is not limited to, public notice of default, a
deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, sale to the mortgagee or lienholder,
certificate of title and all other processes, activities and actions,
by whatever name, associated with the described process. The process
is not concluded until the property obtained by the mortgagee, lienholder,
or their designee, by certificate of title, or any other means, is
sold to a nonrelated bona fide purchaser in an arm's length transaction
to satisfy the debt or lien.
OWNER
The title holder, any agent of the title holder, or any holder
of legal or beneficial title to vacant and/or abandoned property.
VACANT AND ABANDONED PROPERTY
Any residential or commercial building which is not legally
occupied by a mortgagor or tenant, which is in such condition that
it cannot be legally reoccupied, because of the presence or finding
of at least two of the following:
A.
Overgrown or neglected vegetation;
B.
The accumulation of newspapers, circulars, flyers, or mail on
the property;
C.
Disconnected gas, electric, or water utility services to the
property;
D.
The accumulation of hazardous, noxious, or unhealthy substances
or materials on the property;
E.
The accumulation of junk, litter, trash, or debris on the property;
F.
The absence of window treatments such as blinds, curtains, or
shutters;
G.
The absence of furnishings and personal items;
H.
Statements of neighbors, delivery persons, or government employees
indicating that the property is vacant and abandoned;
I.
Windows or entrances to the property that are boarded up or
closed off, or multiple windowpanes that are damaged, broken, and
unrepaired;
J.
Doors to the property that are missing, smashed through, broken
off, unhinged, or continuously unlocked;
K.
A risk to the health, safety, or welfare of the public or any
adjoining or adjacent property owners due to acts of vandalism, loitering,
criminal conduct, or the physical destruction or deterioration of
the property;
L.
An uncorrected violation of a municipal building, housing, or
similar code during the preceding year, or an order by municipal authorities
declaring the property to be unfit for occupancy and to remain vacant
and unoccupied;
M.
The mortgagee or other authorized party has secured or winterized
the property due to the property being deemed vacant and unprotected
or in danger of freezing;
N.
A written statement issued by a mortgagor expressing the clear
intent of all mortgagors to abandon the property; or
O.
Any other reasonable indicia of abandonment.
A creditor required to register a property pursuant to this
article shall pay an annual registration fee as follows:
A. $500 per property annually for any property that is required to be
registered because a summons and complaint in an action to foreclose
was filed by the creditor.
B. An additional $2,000 per property annually if the property is vacant or abandoned pursuant to the definition in §
304-2 when the summons and complaint in an action to foreclose is filed, or becomes vacant and abandoned pursuant to said definition at any time thereafter while the property is in foreclosure.
C. Registration fees shall be due to the Township Clerk on January 31
of each year.
The Township of Stillwater hereby grants to itself all such
powers granted to municipalities by the State of New Jersey for the
rehabilitation of abandoned property. Such powers are set forth, inter
alia, in the Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act (N.J.S.A. 55:19-78
et seq.) and in applicable portions of the New Jersey Urban Development
Corporation Act (N.J.S.A. 55:19-1 through 55:19-77). These state statutory
powers are collectively referred to herein as the "enabling statutes."
[Amended 6-18-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-11]
The public officer, as defined in N.J.S.A. 55:19-80, who is
responsible for executing the provisions of this chapter for the rehabilitation
of abandoned property, shall be designated by resolution of the Township
Committee.
The public officer shall designate a property as an "abandoned
property" if said property meets the criteria set forth in N.J.S.A.
55:19-81 (abandoned property criteria) and/or N.J.S.A. 55:19-82 (nuisance
property criteria). The public officer's designation is limited by
the provisions of N.J.S.A. 55:19-83.
The public officer shall establish an abandoned property list
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-55. An interested party (as that term is
defined in N.J.S.A. 55:19-105a) may request that the public officer
include a property on the abandoned property list, pursuant to N.J.S.A.
55:19-105.
The owner of a property on the abandoned property list has such
rights designated to said owner by the enabling statutes. Such powers
include but are not limited to:
A. Challenging the inclusion of a property on the abandoned property
list, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-55e;
B. Seeking removal from said list, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-57 and
55:19-103;
C. Petitioning for reinstatement of control and possession, pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 55:19-92 et seq.
Township of Stillwater has such powers and rights regarding
abandoned properties as set forth in the enabling statutes. Such powers
include but are not limited to:
A. Sale of tax lien, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-56;
B. Special tax sales, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-101;
C. Foreclosing the right to redemption, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-58;
D. Recourse directly against property owner, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-100;
E. Possession and control of property, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-84
to 55:19-92 et seq.;
F. Rehabilitation and reuse of property, while in possession and control,
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-90;
G. Borrowing money and making applications for rehabilitation of property,
while in possession and control, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-91;
H. Sale of property, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-96;
I. Purchase of property, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-96;
J. Recover rehabilitation costs by lien on property, pursuant to N.J.S.A.
55:19-98;
K. Clearance, development, redevelopment or repair of property through
power of eminent domain, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:19-56, 55:19-102.
Electric and natural gas utilities are granted such rights to
abandoned properties as are set forth in N.J.S.A. 55:19-106.
All references in this chapter to state statutes include reference
to all amendments thereto. References to particular sections of the
enabling statutes are for ease of reference, but may not be exhaustive
and are not meant to be exclusive of other applicable statutory provisions
contained in the enabling statutes or elsewhere in the New Jersey
statutes.