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stock-photo-412835-refinance.jpgNew Jersey imposes a “realty transfer fee” on the sale of property. Sellers of real estate in New Jersey are often surprised by this fee, which is akin to a sales tax. The amount of realty transfer fee changes with the sales price, it is about half a percent for houses selling for $225,000, and increases to about one percent for sales of $1,000,000, as the sales prices go higher, the realty transfer fee continues to increase. You can check the realty transfer fee for a particular sales price using an online calculator.

http://www.realstorynj.com/sellers/realty-transfer-fee-calculator The realty transfer fee, along with the mansion tax, must be paid to the county clerk of the county where the property is located simultaneously with the recording of the deed.

If a home is sold for more than one million dollars it is also subject to the mansion tax in addition to the realty transfer fee. The mansion tax requires the buyer to pay a tax of one percent of the purchase price. Properties which are subject to the mansion tax include residential property, farm property with a house and commercial property. Properties which are not subject to the mansion tax include vacant land, farm property with no residence, farm property which qualifies for farmland assessments, industrial property and apartment buildings with five or more units, cemeteries, public schools, churches and certain properties owned by charitable organizations.

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stock-photo-4786200-handshake-at-the-business-meeting.jpgThere are three forms of formal dispute resolution to resolve a legal dispute which informal negotiations have fulfilled: mediation, arbitration, or litigation. Understanding the benefits and drawbacks of each is important to decide which method is best to resolve a dispute.

Mediation.

Mediation is a process where a neutral third party assists in resolving the dispute. Mediators are typically lawyers or retired judges who have extensive experience in the field in which parties have a dispute. The decision to settle is always up to the parties. Mediators do not have the power to issue a binding decision. Instead, mediators can often provide their opinion on how they believe matters will be resolved through a litigation or an arbitration and lead the parties to agree by explaining the strengths and weaknesses of each others’ case.

Mediators will often ask the parties to submit confidential written statements and documents that support the parties position to the mediator before the mediation. On the day of the mediation, the parties will meet at a pre-arranged location with the mediator. The process typically involves the parties providing a short explanation of their side of the case to the mediator. The parties will then break into separate rooms and the mediator will shuttle between rooms to discuss the dispute and a resolution.

Mediation is typically confidential. Mediations resolve disputes quickly and are far less expensive than arbitration or litigation, and allow the parties to control the outcome.
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New Jersey law N.J.S.A. 54:4-35.1 allows property owners to request reduced property tax assessments for property damaged as a result of Superstorm Sandy. This law was enacted in the response to a severe Nor’easter which hit New Jersey 1962. That storm caused significant property damage and there was no basis in the law for property tax relief for the affected tax payers. This year, that law is being used to assist property owners who have sustained significant property damage. The statute provides in part:

…When any building or other structure which has been destroyed, consumed by fire, demolished or altered in such a way that its value has materially depreciated, either intentionally or by the action of storm, fire, cyclone, tornado, or earthquake, or other casualty, …the assessor shall…after examination and inquiry, determine the value of such parcel real property as of…January 1, and assess the same according to such value.

Usually, when a homeowner files a property tax appeal, the appeal is based on the fair market value of the property on October 1st of the preceding year. Superstorm Sandy hit the coast of New Jersey on October 29, 2012, devastating communities and causing property damage in the United States which has been estimated to exceed $71 billion.

This law is very limited in that it only assists homeowners who have sustained damage between October 1st of the previous year and January 1st of the current tax year. It also requires notification of the assessor by the property owner before January 10 of the current tax year. If a homeowner notified the assessor and filed the appropriate form with supporting documentation prior to the January 10th deadline, the municipality will investigate and issue an assessment.
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New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) is one of New Jersey’s employment protection laws. The Act, enacted in 1986, is often referred to as the “whistleblower law.” In fact, it is one of the most liberally interpreted and expansive whistleblower laws in the country. It protects employees from being fired in retaliation for the employee’s disclosure of or objection to a wrongful practice of the business or one of the business’s employees.

In order for the statute’s protections to apply, the employee must disclose, object to, or refuse to participate in an act, policy, or practice of the employer which the employee reasonably believes violates a law, regulation, or public policy. Further, the employee must be fired, harassed, or otherwise retaliated against as a direct result of the disclosure, objection, or refusal. The employee does not even have to be right about her belief that the conduct is illegal or against public policy to be protected by the act. The employee merely has to have a reasonable belief of such.

CEPA includes in its definition of “employer” any individual, partnership, association, corporation or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly on behalf of or in the interest of an employer with the employer’s consent.
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New Jersey has several “tracks” for a government employee who is in civil service to fight when he believes he was wrongfully fired. The first, is in the Civil Service Commission, which can order reinstatement and back-pay. However, this process goes through the Office of Administrative Law and does not provide for a jury trial. The other way is to challenge the firing in the Superior Court, with the constitutional right to have a jury decide the employee’s case. Some statutes, such as the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the Conscientious Employee Protection Acts, provide for the award of punitive damages and attorneys fees.

The Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) is New Jersey’s whistleblower law. It protects whistleblowing employees. Employers may not retaliate in any way, whether through firing, harassment, demotion, or in any other manner because the employee has disclosed, objected to, refused to participate in or threatened to disclose a violation of law or public policy regarding public safety, or fraudulent acts. N.J.S.A. 34:19-1.

The New Jersey law had been that an employee could challenge his termination in the Civil Service Commission on the fact that the employer did not have a basis to discharge him, but not be foreclosed from also filing a whistleblower lawsuit under CEPA in Superior Court if she did not raise the retaliatory action before the Civil Service Commission.

The New Jersey Supreme Court, generally is one of the most protective courts of employees rights in the country, was recently issued an opinion by his employer which should give civil servants concern.
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People or businesses seeking to collect money in New Jersey can file a suit in the Superior Court to obtain a judgment. An experienced New Jersey litigation attorney should be consulted before suing, however,because there are many factors that should be considered. For example, a decision needs to be made about which division of the court to file in and what county the suit can and should be filed in. In addition, the suing party must decide which parties should be named as defendants. Finally the suing party must also decide the type of relief sought and properly request it (i.e., compensatory, attorneys’ fees, prejudgment interest, etc.)

A lawsuit is started with the filing of a complaint. A complaint is the legal document that sets forth the facts and legal reasons why the suing party should recover the requested relief. Complaints must correctly identify the parties being sued. The party filing suit, otherwise known as the plaintiff, is legally responsible to accurately and properly name the correct defendants. Failure to properly name a defendant can later preclude post-judgment collection efforts. Failure to include all responsible parties in one suit can later preclude collecting from parties that were not initially named.

After deciding which parties to name, the plaintiff should decide which county the suit should be brought in. New Jersey Court Rules require a complaint to be filed in the county where the cause of action arose or the county in which any party to the action resides. Corporations are considered to reside in any county in which the corporation either does business or its registered office is located. A plaintiff can hire private investigators to perform a search to identify the address where a potential defendant resides; a good lawyer can often do this also. A plaintiff can also search the New Jersey Department of the Treasury website to determine where a corporation is registered or does business. It is critical to file the complaint in the proper county. Failing to file to file the complaint in the proper county can lead to a dismissal of the lawsuit.

After picking the county in which suit will be filed, the moving party must decide which division of the court to file in. If a matter involves an amount in controversy of $15,000 or less than it may be brought in the Special Civil Division of the Superior Court. If the amount in controversy is greater than $15,000 then it must be brought in the Law Division because Special Civil Part monetary recovery is capped at $15,000, exclusive of court costs and attorneys fee (if allowed by law). There are advantages to filing suit in either the Law Division or the Special Civil Part.
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The Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act was enacted in 1975 to govern written warranties on consumer products. Oral warranties are not covered by the Act. Commercial warranties are not covered by this Act. Warranties on services are not covered by the Act. Instead, the Act was enacted to require the manufactures and sellers of consumer products to give consumers detailed information regarding warranty coverage, and to require sellers to live up to their warranties.

The Act does not require that a warranty be provided. However, if a warranty is provided it must be clearly written and easy to understand. The warranty must be designated as either “full” or “limited” and readily available for inspection.

Further, if a warranty is provided, the Act serves many useful purposes. First, it allows consumers to get complete information about warranty terms and conditions. The Act also enables consumers to compare warranty coverage before buying a consumer good. Additionally, the Act ensures warranty competition by allowing consumers to be able to pick a product, based on a combination of the price, features, and warranty. Finally, the Acts provides incentives for companies to perform on their warranty obligations in a timely and through manner and to resolve disputes without delay and expense to the consumer.

The Act protects consumers in many ways. First, the Act prohibits the disclaimer of implied warranties when a written warranty is offered. This means that consumers will always receive an implied warranty of merchantability regardless of how broad or narrow the written warranty is. An implied warranty can only be limited to the duration of the written warranty. For example, if a written warranty is limited to one year, then the implied warranty can be also limited to a year.
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columns round.JPGThe Appellate Division recently issued an important decision on “stigma” due process claims under New Jersey’s Civil Rights Act. The case involved a gym teacher in the Newark Public School system. He did not have tenure.

Several accusations were made against the teacher, the first that he had disciplined students in gym class by allegedly kicking them and, in one instance, locking them in a “cage” made from a table flipped on its side which trapped the boys in the corner of the gym. He was also alleged to have demanded “that the boys fight like animals and kill each other in your make shift cage.” Allegations were also made of inappropriate physical contact by the teacher with students.

The Newark public school system’s investigation report indicated that the complaints were “unfounded.” However, a meeting was to be held regarding the allegations. The focus was the cage incident, at which the students confirmed the incident, contradicting their prior interview with the investigator, who recommended that defendant be transferred to a high school, rather than disciplined. Thereafter, the teacher was warned in writing, and thereafter terminated.

After the teacher was fired, he had difficulty finding a job. He hired a private investigator who called the school district pretending to be a prospective employer asking for a reference for the teacher. The principal and vice-principal, also named as defendants, indicated that “there was a DYFS situation” (DYFS was New Jersey’s child protection agency), but could not provide any information, and indicated that plaintiff had then been ” released.” Although she would not say why, the vice-principal said words to the effect that the school cared for its children who were the priority and should be safe and sound at all times, and then said “so I think you can be able to determine something from that.”
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1387277_decorative_villa_architecture.jpgWhen you sell your house for less than you owe on your mortgage it is referred to as a “short sale”. This is one option available when you find you can no longer make your mortgage payments, and the outstanding principal balance on your mortgage is higher than the fair market value of your house. The offer must be submitted to your lender, along with a detailed statement of all the costs of the sale and any other items which must be paid when the house is sold. The short sale can only proceed if it is approved by the lender. In other words, the lender must agree to accept less than what is owed on the mortgage. In the current economic climate, short sales are occurring with greater frequency. When a homeowner cannot make the mortgage payments on his home, this option relieves the homeowner of the burden of those payments. The alternatives are often foreclosure by the lender, bankruptcy or, if the homeowner qualifies, a mortgage modification.

The buyer of a short sale property typically gets a good value, he buys the property at its fair market value, but pays less in a depressed real estate market than if the house were listed for sale by the homeowner – as the homeowner would have to seek a price that is sufficient to cover repayment of his current mortgage balance. When the market rebounds, a short sale buyer can typically sell the property for a significantly higher price than he paid. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind.

A homeowner seeking a short sale is typically in financial distress. The homeowner seeks a short sale because he cannot make his mortgage payments. The short seller will not have the resources to make repairs, and it is likely that maintenance and repair of the home have been deferred due to his financial situation. The short sale lender will be accepting less money than they are owed on the property, and the lender will be unwilling to make any repairs. The short sale buyer must therefore be prepared to purchase the home in “as is” condition. The buyer can expect to invest additional monies repairing the home after the purchase.

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