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How NJDEP's 2017 Revised Cleanup Standards Have Made Cleanup Easier

On September 18, 2017, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("NJDEP") updated the Soil Remediation Standards ("SRS") for 19 contaminants when it published a Notice of Administrative Change in the New Jersey Register. Thereafter on October 6, 2017, NJDEP published a change to include corrected standards for 1,1,1-trichloroethane and hexachloroethane. ...More

  • November 14, 2017
  • Posted

Waters, McPherson, McNeill Walks to End Childhood Cancer

WMM Associate Robert Guanci put his best foot forward to put an end to childhood cancer. Rob teamed up with other walkers as part of a team from Our Lady of Grace Church in Fairview, NJ and participated in the St. Jude Walk/Run to End Childhood Cancer. ...More

  • January 31, 2017
  • Posted

WMM Partner to serve as 2017 SAGE Eldercare Treasurer

Partner Susan C. Gieser was recently elected to serve as the 2017 Treasurer of SAGE Eldercare. SAGE is a not-for profit organization located in Summit, New Jersey that provides resources for older adults to remain independent and safe at home as they age. ...More

TAX COURT UPHOLDS NJ PROPERTY TAX

In a recent Tax Court decision, Cobblestone Acquisition LLC v. Twp. Of Ocean, (Decided August 16, 2016), the Court clarified an oft-cited exception to the Freeze Act N.J.S.A. 54:51A-8 when it found against defendant-municipality by drawing a distinction between a "reassessment" and a "complete revaluation/reassessment," thus permitting plaintiff-taxpayer to "freeze" judgment entered for tax year 2015 in 2016 and 2017. ...More

  • December 8, 2015
  • Posted

Meadowlands Development

If you have an interest in the Meadowlands, please read the attached Star Ledger story. Our partner, Tom O'Connor, is featured prominently in the article, and can advise on all pertinent land use issues. ...More

ADVOCATING FOR PROPERTY TAXPAYERS---IT DOESN'T STOP WITH THE ASSESSMENT

Let's begin with a simple and obvious reality-the vast majority of taxpayers who seek the advice of real estate tax professionals do so because they are unhappy with the assessed value of their property, the tax burden levied on the property, or both. However, lately, a new concern is becoming more and more prevalent among taxpayers and in particular, those who own investment-class properties. This concern is New Jersey's so-called "Mansion Tax". ...More

REVALUATION BULLETIN: CITY OF PATERSON

The City of Paterson is in the final stages of the implementation of its second revaluation in eight years. Paterson taxpayers have, within the last week or so, received in the mail preliminary notice of their 2015 assessments. ...More

  • June 23, 2014
  • Posted

Court Considers Value of Wetlands

The New Jersey Appellate Division recently ordered that hearings must be conducted prior to takings of property in New Jersey where zoning changes may occur. The matter involved the valuation of one acre of vacant land in North Bergen being acquired by New Jersey Transit Corporation. ...More

Etelson v. Shore Club South Urban Renewal, L.L.C.

In a recent unreported case entitled Etelson v. Shore Club Sourth Urban Renewal, L.L.C., (Docket No. A-0570-11T4 - Decided March 10, 2014), the Appellate Division ruled on issues involving the state Consumer Fraud Act ("CFA") and the state Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act ("PREDFDA"). PREDFDA is the statute which requires the developer of most condominium developments to register with the Department of Community Affairs ("DCA") and to provide extensive disclosure to prospective purchasers in the form of a Public Offering Statement ("POS"). ...More

Lubik v. Harleysville Insurance:Breaching an Insured's Reasonable Expectations of Coverage

Lubik v. Harleysville Ins. Co. of N.J., A-1120-12T2, 2014 WL 740087 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div.) The New Jersey Appellate Division recently affirmed a trial court's denial of water damage claim under a condominium unit-owner's dwelling policy that expressly included water damage coverage, through a misinterpretation of an exclusionary subsection of the policy, negating one of the essential insured considerations - coverage of water damages. ...More

Amended Economic Opportunity Act Advances

The "Economic Opportunity Act of 2014, Part 1" is working its way through State Senate and Assembly committees. The new bill amends the New Jersey Economic Opportunity Act of 2013 by focusing on developer incentives under the Economic Redevelopment and Growth (ERG) Program, which is one of two main programs expanded by the 2013 Act. ...More

GETTING YOUR DUCKS IN ORDER- ASSISTING YOUR TAX PROFESSIONAL IN THE EVALUATION OF YOUR TAX APPEALS FOR INCOME-PRODUCING PROPERTIES

The 2014 tax appeal filing deadline of April 1, 2014* is right around the corner and by now you would have (or should have) given some thought to whether or not you should be appealing the tax assessment on your real estate holdings. To save time and ensure that the analysis of your assessments is as accurate as possible, you should anticipate what your tax professional will be asking for and begin to get it together. Responsible tax professionals will not file tax appeals without a thorough review of the critical information. In the case of income producing property such as office, retail, apartment buildings or industrial space, to name but a few, your consultant will need, at a minimum, the following: ...More

The Role of Amicus Curiae in Insurance Coverage Matters

There's a curious subtext to the recent New Jersey Supreme Court insurance coverage opinion in Farmers Mut. Fire Ins. Co. of Salem v. N.J. Property-Liability Ins. Guar. Ass'n, 215 N.J. 522 (2013), decided September 24, 2013, related to the presence of several amicus curiae that seem to be the real parties in interest. ...More

THE N.J. SUPREME COURT'S OWENS-ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL COVERAGE ALLOCATION FORMULA - INTENDED TO FAIRLY MARSHAL COVERAGE FOR AN INSURED - SURVIVES YET ANOTHER INSURER ATTEMPT TO TRANSPOSE INSURANCE POLICY ALLOCATION INTO AN INSURANCE COVERAGE REDUCTION FORMULA

Insurance law usually arises out of litigation between insureds and their insurance carriers, but twice within the space of a few weeks this past term, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued insurance coverage opinions that have significant impacts on insureds, in a case without an insured's participation. Farmers Mutual, the latest N.J. Supreme Court insurance coverage case without an insured party, resolves the question of whether, or when, the insurance allocation "shares" of an insolvent carrier may be assigned to the State's Guaranty Fund under the Supreme Court's Owens-Illinois/Carter-Wallace insurance policy allocation methodologies developed in prior cases of those names. ...More

RELIEF FROM MORTGAGE INTEREST OBLIGATION UPON FILING OF CONDEMNATION ACTION AND ORDER FOR PAYMENT INTO COURT

Coordinating the disbursement of funds resulting from a condemnation award - so that the person receiving the award can timely pay its obligations-- is always difficult when litigating condemnation actions especially since, in contested actions, the offer funds are not available until after the property is "acquired" through the filing of the complaint in condemnation and declaration of taking, and the deposit of the offer into Superior Court Trust Funds. ...More

Foreclosure Alert

Residential mortgagees state-wide could be heard to breathe a sigh of relief upon the announcement of the Appellate Division's decision in Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. v. Russo 429 N.J. Super. 91 (App.Div. 2012). ...More

Complicated & Convoluted: New Jersey's Pay-to-Play Laws

The State, County and municipal governments are hardly on the same page when it comes to their pay-to-play regulations. They do agree that a "business entity" should be precluded from obtaining a government contract if that entity has given a contribution to a candidate for elective-office or elective-office holder within a certain time period in certain instances. ...More

UNINSURED/UNDERINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE

Underinsured/Uninsured Motorist Insurance Coverage is one of the most important types of coverage in an auto policy. Besides basic coverage, all auto policies are required by New Jersey law to have underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage in the minimum amount of $15,000 per person/$30,000 per accident. ...More

Discretion of a NJ Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP): A Blessing or a Curse?

There are many competent and knowledgeable LSRPs who can assist with completing an investigation and clean-up of a contaminated property - but often the timing of the LSRP's certification that progress has been made, is critical to a proposed project or sale of a property. In these instances, strategy is involved, and an environmental lawyer should be consulted early in the process. ...More

PROPERTY TAX WATCH

In the past weeks, Tax Assessors all over the State mailed Notices of the 2013 Property Tax Assessment to property owners. This inconspicuous post-card size mailing is all the notice you will receive as to what the assessed value of your property will be in 2013. The Notice of Assessment will not tell you what your Tax Bill for 2013 will be because the tax rate will not be established by the municipalities until June at the earliest and in many cases the Fall of 2013. ...More

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