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Underwater Mortgage Plan: Will it Sink or Swim?

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
20 Aug 2013
It has been several months since we last reported on the scheme to use eminent domain to seize “underwater” mortgages in various places around the country.  It appeared that the idea died out earlier this year, but it has recently come back with a vengeance.  In recent weeks, several California cities have advanced efforts to... Read More

Unreliable Testimony Dooms Taxpayer’s Appeal

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
8 Aug 2013
Another New Jersey taxpayer recently saw its property tax assessment affirmed by the New Jersey Tax Court due to a failure to present evidence to overcome the presumption of validity given to the municipal assessment.  90 Riverdale, L.L.C. challenged its 2009, 2010 and 2011 property tax assessments of its property located in the Borough of... Read More

Valuing contaminated properties – “in use” or ”not in use”, that is the question. . . .

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
31 Jul 2013
In Orient Way Corp. v. Township of Lyndhurst, the New Jersey Tax Court was confronted with the issue of valuation for local property tax purposes real property impacted by environmental contamination. This matter involved tax appeals for 2006 through 2008 on an old industrial property where the issue of contamination was undisputed. Also, undisputed was... Read More

Karan and Dune Replenishment: Where Do We Go From Here?

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
16 Jul 2013
Last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court threw its hat into the ring in the controversy between New Jersey’s municipalities and beachfront property owners regarding the construction or replenishment of sand dunes to protect the shore from future storms.  This dispute has been going on for years, but has become front page news since Superstorm... Read More

Bergen County Hospital: Exemption Safe or on Thin Ice?

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
15 Jul 2013
A recent opinion by New Jersey Tax Court Judge Christine Nugent concluded that a long-time Bergen County hospital could remain exempt from local property taxation, but directed further proceedings to determine if the exemption would, in fact stand.  The hospital, formerly known as the Bergen Pines County Hospital in Paramus, has been operated by a... Read More

“Faulty” Highest and Best Use Analysis Dooms Tax Appeal

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
12 Jul 2013
In a recently published opinion, the New Jersey Tax Court reminded appraisers of the importance of the highest and best use analysis.  The case, Clemente v. South Hackensack, involved a challenge to the property tax assessment for tax years 2009, 2010 and 2011 on a building which houses the Clemente Italian Bakery & Deli, a... Read More

Appellate Court: Contract Purchasers Have Standing to File Tax Appeal

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
11 Jul 2013
The New Jersey Appellate Division reversed a Tax Court judge’s decision to dismiss a contract purchaser’s tax appeal because the purchaser was not the owner of the subject property at the time the appeal was filed.  The property was under a contract of sale in December 2011 with an expected closing date of February 2012. ... Read More

NJ Supreme Court Erodes Special Benefits, Like the Dunes

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
8 Jul 2013
This morning, the New Jersey Supreme Court has issued its much-anticipated decision in the dune replenishment case, Borough of Harvey Cedars v. Karan, which was argued this May. A copy of the decision is available here. This opinion is hot off the press and we are reading it now, but the Court has reversed the... Read More

Government Can’t Make Developers "Show Them the Money"

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
26 Jun 2013
Big Win For Property Rights in US Supreme Court  Yesterday, the United State Supreme Court issued a decision which has caused property rights advocates and developers to rejoice, and is likely to become a historic property rights precedent for years to come.  The 5-4 decision in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Mgmt District, No. 11-1447 (copy... Read More

Jersey City Revaluation Imperiled?

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
26 Jun 2013
Jersey City Mayor-elect Steven Fulop has announced that the city-wide property revaluation has been halted, and warned that an audit of the revaluation company hired by the prior administration may be performed because of alleged ties to a former city business administrator. Fulop’s campaign had impugned outgoing Mayor Jeremiah Healy for ordering the revaluation, suggesting... Read More