Case Law Summaries

First Union National Bank v. Penn Salem Marina, Inc.

MORTGAGES; FORECLOSURES; DEFICIENCIES — A court only needs to make inquiry as to the fair value itself, received at a foreclosure sale if the lender, after purchasing the property at the foreclosure sale, seeks a deficiency judgment against the borrower or against any guarantor.

• Opinion Date: March 12, 2009
• Real Property Law

Previti v. Upper Township Zoning Board of Adjustment

ZONING — Where a land use board, even with the best of intentions, merely assumes that the applicant’s proposal will resolve a problem, any determination by the board based on that assumption is arbitrary and capricious.

• Opinion Date: April 2, 2009
• Real Property Law

Triffin v. Wachovia Bank, N.A.

CHECK 21 ACT; ASSIGNEES — Assignments of statutory claims are strictly prohibited as a matter of law; therefore, an assignee who purchases dishonored checks with full knowledge of the dishonor does not have a cause of action under the Check 21 Act.

• Opinion Date: April 16, 2009
• Business Law

Palisades Collection, L.L.C. v. Graubard

WIKIPEDIA — A court should not accept Wikipedia as a source whose accuracy cannot be reasonably questioned because anyone with a Wikipedia account can change any entry on the site and therefore the site is inherently unreliable.

• Opinion Date: April 17, 2009
• Business Law

Feig v. Spirit of the Spung, Inc.

CONSUMER FRAUD ACT; ARBITRATION — Where a contract’s arbitration provision does not clear and unmistakably waive any statutory right or remedy, such as the rights and remedies provided by the Consumer Fraud Act, a party is not required to have its Consumer Fraud Act claims heard by the arbitrator.

• Opinion Date: April 27, 2009
• Business Law

Circus Liquors, Inc. v. Governing Body of Middletown Township

LIQUOR LICENSES — The express authority to revoke or suspend liquor licenses granted to the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control comes with the implied power to control the divestiture of an interest in an improperly issued license.

• Opinion Date: May 6, 2009
• Business Law

International Schools Services Inc. v. West Windsor Township

TAXATION; EXEMPTIONS — A property owner, although having a certificate of incorporation setting forth the corporation’s goals of aiding, promoting, and encouraging education organizations by all appropriate means, will not be entitled to an exemption from property taxation if it cannot demonstrate that the use and operation of its specific property is not for a profit.

• Opinion Date: March 27, 2009
• Real Property Law

In Re Fair Lawn Borough

COAH — When a municipality does not satisfy its previously unmet need for affordable housing, COAH does not need to remove, from the municipality’s plan, a viable property that had been included in the municipality’s affordable housing plan and need not conduct a substantive review of a municipality’s subsequent housing plan application under such circumstances.

• Opinion Date: April 8, 2009
• Real Property Law

BASF Corporation Coating and Ink Division v. Town of Belvidere

TAXATION; ASSESSMENTS — Although a tax assessor is required to give general notification of a municipality-wide reassessment or obtain approval of a compliance plan for such a reassessment, it does not need to do so when performing assessment maintenance, a practice by which an assessor changes some assessments in years when a district-wide revaluation is not performed.

• Opinion Date: April 16, 2009
• Real Property Law

New Jersey Shore Builders Association v. Township of Jackson

ORDINANCES; POLICE POWERS — To be valid, an ordinance adopted by a municipality pursuant to its police powers does not need to be perfect; it only needs to advance the cause it was intended to achieve.

• Opinion Date: May 13, 2009
• Real Property Law