Tenant Entitled to Tax Refund, But No More

In this matter, Quo Non Ascendet Inc. v. Aperion Enterprises Inc., Docket No. 012184-2008 (December 5, 2011), the Tax Court was called upon to settle a dispute between a landlord and tenant.

The plaintiff here, a tenant, filed this action against defendant, its landlord, alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment after learning that the landlord had filed complaints in the Tax Court challenging the assessments on the property for four of the five years during which the tenant had paid the real estate taxes.  The breach of contract claim was predicated on the tenant’s allegation that the landlord refused to allow the tenant to control the disposition of the tax appeals and collect any refund of taxes for the years under appeal.  The unjust enrichment claim was grounded in the tenant’s argument that the landlord would be unjustly enriched if permitted to retain a portion of any tax refund.  The actions were consolidated and the tenant was joined as a plaintiff in the tax appeals.  The tax appeals were resolved in a published opinion, Aperion Enters, Inc. and Quo Non Ascendet, Inc. v. Bor. of Fair Lawn, 25 N.J. Tax 70 (Tax 2009), in which the court also determined that the tenant had standing as an aggrieved taxpayer to challenge the assessments and was entitled to the refund of taxes which ultimately resulted.

In this more recent action, the court found that the tenant’s breach of contract claim was rendered moot by resolution of the tax appeals and that the unjust enrichment claim never materialized since the landlord was not awarded a refund of any of the taxes paid by the tenant.  The court granted the landlord’s motion for summary judgment on both claims.