CAI-NJ’s Legislative Action Committee has issued a call to action for all New Jersey community associations.

 

Assembly Bill No. 3823 is scheduled for a vote before the New Jersey General Assembly on Thursday, January 4, 2018. This proposed legislation seeks to amend the law, which currently allows for an expedited mortgage foreclosure process (although not mandatory) for vacant and abandoned (“zombie”) properties. Specifically, this legislation proposes to allow community associations to either: (1) compel payment of association fees by the mortgage lender when the lender fails to proceed with the foreclosure process on a vacant and abandoned property in an expedited fashion; or (2) compel the appointment of a fiscal agent (receiver) over the abandoned property.

CAI-NJ’s Legislative Action Committee is asking for homeowners in community associations to call or contact their local Assembly-person and encourage them to vote in favor of this bill on Thursday. Talking points provided by the Legislative Action Committee include the following:

  • There are currently 1.35 million people who live in 6,700 community associations in New Jersey. This legislation will help every single one of these 1.35 million people.
  • Zombie foreclosures plague nearly every one of New Jersey’s community associations, which puts a strain on the livelihoods of all our neighbors.
  • Current law allows for an expedited foreclosure process on abandoned homes; however, this process is not mandatory and mortgage lenders are allowing abandoned properties to remain in foreclosure for years.
  • This legislation (A-3823) offers fair options to mortgage lenders if they choose not to expedite the process in dealing with abandoned properties.

You can click here to e-mail your Assembly-person. Or you can click here to find your Assembly-person’s telephone number (locate your town, note the district, then click your town, then click “Legislators for District ___”). As the Legislative Action Committee notes, contacting your state legislator today regarding this legislation is one of the most important things you can do to help the financial stability of your community association.

You can read the full text of this proposed legislation here.

For more information on this proposed legislation or any other issue concerning your community association, please contact one of our Community Associations attorneys. For breaking news or updates on new blog posts, follow us on Twitter at: @njcondolaw.