Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation. v. Heritage Square Association

325 N.J. Super. 1, 737 A.2d 682 (App. Div. 1999)

Opinion Date: June 7, 1999
Real Property Law
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CONDOMINIUMS; LIENS—The statutory limited lien priority afforded to condominium liens does not apply to mortgages already recorded before April 1, 1996.

N.J.S. 46:8B-21 was designed to give a condominium association a lien for any unpaid assessment, but granted only a limited priority over mortgages recorded after April 1, 1996 and did not grant priority over mortgages already recorded as of April 1, 1996. Consequently, notwithstanding a condominium association’s reading of the statute to the contrary, a condominium association lien recorded by the association on February 18, 1997 was found not to have priority over a first mortgage lien that had been recorded on May 4, 1992.

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