If, before final subdivision approval has been
granted, any person transfers or sells, or agrees to sell, except
pursuant to an agreement expressly conditioned on final subdivision
approval, as owner or agent, any land which forms a part of a subdivision
for which by ordinance municipal approval is required, such person
shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $1,000, and each lot so disposed
of may be deemed a separate violation.
In addition to the foregoing, the Borough may
institute and maintain a civil action:
A. For injunctive relief; and
B. To set aside and invalidate any conveyance made pursuant
to such contract or sale if a certificate of compliance has not been
issued in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-56 of the Municipal Land
Use Act.
In any such action, the transferee, purchaser
or guarantee shall be entitled to a lien upon the portion of the land
from which the subdivision was made that remains in the possession
of the subdivider or his assigns or successors, to secure the return
of any deposit made or purchase price paid, and also a reasonable
search fee, survey expense, and title closing expense, if any. Any
such action must be brought within two years after the date of the
recording of the instrument of transfer, sale or conveyance of said
land or within six years if unrecorded.
The prospective purchaser, prospective mortgagee,
or any other person interested in any land which forms part of a subdivision,
or which, since the 13th day of June, 1951, formed part of such a
subdivision, may apply in writing to the proper official, or if said
official is unknown to the applicant, then to the Clerk of the Borough,
for the issuance of a certificate certifying whether or not such subdivision
has been approved by the Planning Board. Such application shall contain
a diagram showing the location and dimension of the land to be covered
by the certificate and the name of the owner thereof.
The Mayor and Council shall, by resolution,
designate the Borough Clerk, Borough Engineer of some other official
as the official who shall make and issue such certificates, and the
official so designated shall issue such certificate within 15 days
after the receipt of such written application and the fees therefor.
Such official shall keep a duplicate copy of each certificate consecutively
numbered, including a statement of the fees charged, in a binder as
a permanent record of his office.
Each certificate shall be designated a "certificate
as to approval of subdivision of land" and shall certify:
A. Whether there exists in the municipality a duly established
Planning Board which meets regularly on a monthly or more frequent
basis and whether there is an ordinance controlling subdivisions of
land, adopted under the authority of this chapter.
B. Whether the subdivision or resubdivision, as it relates
to the land shown in said application, has been approved by the Planning
Board and, if so, the date of such approval.
C. Whether such subdivision or resubdivision, if the
same has not been approved, is exempt from the requirements of approval
as provided in this chapter.
The official designated officer shall be entitled to demand and receive for each such certificate issued by him a reasonable fee, not in excess of those provided in Sections 14 and 15 of Chapter
5 of Title 54 of the Revised Statutes. The fees so collected by such official shall be paid by him to the Borough.
Any person who shall acquire for a valuable
consideration an interest in the lands covered by any such certificate
of approval of a subdivision in reliance upon the information therein
contained shall hold such interest free of any right, remedy or action
which could be prosecuted or maintained by the Borough.
If the official designated to make and issue
any such certificate fails to issue the same within 15 days after
receipt of an application and the fees therefor, any person acquiring
an interest in the land described in such application shall hold such
free of any rights, remedy, or action which could be prosecuted or
maintained by the Borough.
Any such application addressed to the Borough
Clerk of the Borough of Bradley Beach shall be deemed to be addressed
to the proper designated official, and the municipality shall be bound
thereby to the same extent as though the same was addressed to the
designated official.