Category: Real Property Law

Pote v. City of Atlantic City

LANDOWNERS LIABILITY; BOARDWALKS — Unlike where a commercial property is adjacent to a sidewalk, the owner of a property owner does not have any duty to clear snow and ice from a boardwalk adjacent to the commercial property.

• Opinion Date: January 19, 2010

Leisuretowne Association, Inc. v. Township of Southampton

SERVITUDES — A servitude may be modified or terminated when, due to changed circumstances, it is impossible as a practical matter to accomplish the purpose for which the servitude was created.

• Opinion Date: January 20, 2010

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection v. Huber

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS; CONSERVATION EASEMENTS — Where a title search would reveal the existence of a wetlands permit by its number and the permit would reveal the presence of a conservation easement on the property, a buyer of the property is charged with constructive notice of the conservation easement even though the recorded document does not specify the terms of that conservation easement.

• Opinion Date: January 20, 2010

McLaughlin v. Borough of Avalon

ZONING; INTERPRETATIONS; APPEALS — The time for an appeal of a decision by an administrative zoning officer runs from the date that the interested party knows or should have known of the action and the statutorily imposed time limitation was created to insulate the recipient of a building permit or other favorable disposition from the threat of unrestrained future challenges.

• Opinion Date: January 15, 2010

Nova Crete, Inc. v. City of Elizabeth

PUBLIC BIDDING; SURETIES —In a public bidding competition, a requirement that a bidder provide a certification from a responsible surety company that the surety will provide a surety bond in the event the bid is successful will not be satisfied by a conditional certification of a surety obligating it to issue such a bond only if the bidder requests its issuance.

• Opinion Date: January 15, 2010

Reed v. Billybob Partners

EASEMENTS — Where an easement is not one of necessity, but is the result of an express grant in a deed, continuing necessity of access is not a factor in determining the easement’s validity.

• Opinion Date: January 14, 2010

Princeton Alliance Church v. Mount Olive Township

TAXATION; EXEMPTIONS; APPEALS — The real property tax appeal statute envisions that a taxpayer will present proofs related to the valuation of its property, but the tax appeal does not concern valuation, but only concerns an exemption or partial exemption from real property taxation, the taxpayer need not present any witnesses at all and may merely present its legal arguments.

• Opinion Date: January 6, 2010

Fewer v. Zoning Board of Adjustment of the Township of Colts Neck

ZONING; VARIANCES — Where municipal ordinances limiting a building’s footprint and floor area meet statutory and case law criteria and where an applicant cannot show that the requested variances promote the general welfare, a statutory purpose, a land use board may properly deny the variance request.

• Opinion Date: January 6, 2010

Payan v. Greenpoint Mortgage Funding, Inc.

TRUTH-IN-LENDING ACT — In the Truth-in-Lending Act, certain fees need not be disclosed unless such fees are unreasonable and are not bona fide and the failure to disclose a yield spread pre-payment premium is not a violation of the Act because it is not a material disclosure and also is not an item required to be included as part of the finance charge disclosure requirements.

• Opinion Date: January 6, 2010

Hi-Tech Steel Erectors, Inc. v. TLC Drywall Construction

NEW JERSEY BOND ACT — The New Jersey Bond Act distinguishes between “first-tier” subcontractors, who have direct contracts with the general contractor for the work in question, and “second-tier” contractors, who lack a direct contract with the general contract pertaining to the subject work.

• Opinion Date: January 5, 2010