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Should Governments Use Eminent Domain to Acquire Underwater Mortgages?
In an unprecedented move, a group of venture capitalists out of San Francisco hopes to convince county and local officials in California to use the power of eminent domain to seize control of private residential mortgage-backed securities with the intent of cutting the principal balances of negative-equity borrowers. As proposed, Mortgage Resolution Partners would work... Read More
$54M Property Tax Credit Coming to Trump In Atlantic City
Earlier this week, the Atlantic City Council approved a settlement of a property tax challenge by Trump Entertainment which will provide $54 million in property tax credits to the Trump organization for the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and the former Trump Marina casino hotel (sold last year and now operating as the Golden Nugget).... Read More
Filed in the Nick of Time
A New Jersey Tax Court judge recently denied efforts by the Borough of Bergenfield to dismiss a property tax appeal filed by a local property owner as being “out of time”. The appeal challenged an affirmance of the 2011 tax assessment on the property in question by the Bergen County Board of Taxation. Under New... Read More
Sayreville Developer Fails in Challenge to Redevelopment Fees
A New Jersey appellate court this week rejected an appeal by a Sayreville developer to challenge the imposition of costs and fees levied upon its commercial redevelopment by the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (“SERA”). The developer Gillette Enterprises, Inc., sought to develop a parcel of land within Sayreville’s redevelopment area with age-restricted housing, after it... Read More
To Wield Chapter 91 Sword to Dismiss Tax Appeals Towns Must Play by the Rules
We have made numerous posts about appeals that were dismissed due to the property owner’s failure to respond to a municipal tax assessor’s request for income and expense information under N.J.S.A. 54:4-34, also known as “Chapter 91.” While it seems municipalities are aggressively invoking Chapter 91 to attack commercial tax appeals and the Tax Court... Read More
Paramus Appeal Dismissed: Obligation to Submit Income and Expense Info Runs with the Land
Another New Jersey property owner had its real estate tax appeal dismissed this week for failure to respond to a municipal tax assessor’s request for income and expense information. That’s not surprising, given the volume of appeals facing New Jersey’s municipalities and now pending in the New Jersey Tax Court and the County Boards of... Read More
Willets Point Takings Abandoned by NYC at Eleventh Hour
The City of New York has withdrawn its efforts to use eminent domain to acquire properties within a 62-acre “Iron Triangle” in the Willets Point section of Queens near Citi Field and downtown Flushing. The condemnations were scheduled to proceed to hearing next week, but the Bloomberg administration instead halted the takings of several private... Read More
No Relaxation For Lakewood Taxpayer
The New Jersey Tax Court recently granted a municipality’s request to dismiss a tax appeal because all taxes due and payable for the 2009 tax year under appeal had not been paid at the time that the complaint was filed as required by N.J.S.A. 54:51A-1(b). In this unreported decision, Tilwy LLC v. Lakewood, Docket No.... Read More
Tribe’s First Amendment Rights Not Violated by Denied Tax Exemption
In a recent unpublished opinion, a Tax Court judge held that the Ramapough Mountain Indians were not entitled to an exemption under N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6 for the use of their property for religious purposes. The Ramapoughs argued that the statute is unconstitutional as applied to them because of the statute’s requirement that a building exist on... Read More
Real Estate Tax Appeal Evidence: Admissible in Eminent Domain Case?
A Kansas property owner recently challenged the $7.5 million award of court-appointed appraisers in an eminent domain matter, only to have the award reduced to $6.95 million at trial based on evidence of the property’s value from a prior tax appeal. The owner, KC Mall Associates, filed a motion before the trial began to prevent... Read More
