Title 54, Title 54: TAXATION

54:5-126a. Conveyance of land not suitable for forest park reservation to municipality; approval When any municipality has heretofore conveyed and transferred to the State of New Jersey for use as forest park reservation all its right, title and interest in any land pursuant to t…

54:5-126b. Redemption of land from municipality; amount In any such case where there is an outstanding right of redemption of the land from the original tax sale the owner, mortgagee, occupant or other person having an interest in such land shall have the right to redeem the same…

54:5-127. Transfer to county for park purposes of lands acquired at tax sales Any municipality is hereby authorized and empowered to convey and transfer to the county wherein such municipality is located, for park purposes, without receiving compensation therefor, all its right, …

54:5-128. Redemption after transfer of lands to county for park purposes The owner, mortgagee, occupant or other person having an interest in such lands so conveyed or transferred shall have the same rights to redeem the said lands as are provided in chapter five of Title 54 of t…

54:5-129. Foreclosure by county of right to redeem Any county acquiring lands pursuant to the provisions of this act shall possess all rights and remedies now held or hereafter granted to a municipality by any statute, to foreclose the right to redeem such lands and to acquire a …

54:5-13. Certificate to include statement of municipal liens, tax sales and assessments under Farmland Assessment Act The certificate provided for in section 54:5-12 of this Title shall include a statement of all municipal liens and outstanding certificates of tax sale, whether h…

54:5-130 Creation of joint municipal lien pool permitted. 1. a. The governing bodies of two or more municipalities, by adoption of parallel resolutions, may create a joint municipal lien pool for the purpose of undertaking bulk sales of municipal liens, the public sale of liens a…

54:5-131 Powers of joint municipal lien pool. 2. The powers of a joint municipal lien pool created and operating pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1997, c.274 (C.54:5-130) shall be as follows: a. To accept transfers of municipal liens from member municipalities. b. To sell municipal l…

54:5-132 Municipal liens defined; exceptions. 3. For the purposes of P.L.1997, c.274 (C.54:5-130 et seq.), municipal liens means municipal liens as defined under the "tax sale law," R.S.54:5-1 et seq., except that no lien for taxes shall be transferred to a joint municipal lien p…

54:5-133 Laws applicable to operation of pool. 4. The operations of a joint municipal lien pool shall be subject to the provisions of the "Local Public Contracts Law," P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.), the Open Public Meetings Act, P.L.1975, c.231 (C.10:4-6 et seq.),and the "…

54:5-134 Transfer of municipal lien. 5. a. No municipal lien shall be transferred to a joint municipal lien fund unless the record owner of the property subject to the lien has first been sent notice, by regular and certified mail, of the intended transfer and been given an oppor…

54:5-135 Execution of lien certificates. 6. A joint municipal lien pool may act on behalf of any member municipal tax collector to execute lien certificates as part of a sale. All interests and penalties otherwise due shall be paid to the municipality in cash or notes up to and u…

54:5-136 Operating plan filed by joint municipal lien pool. 7. Prior to any initial bulk sale, public sale at auction or arrangement for use as collateral for a bond or note of municipal liens by a joint municipal lien pool, the pool shall file an operating plan for review and ap…

54:5-137 Rules, regulations, orders. 8. The Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs may adopt rules and regulations and issue orders, as necessary, to effectuate the purposes of this act. L.1997,c.274,s.8.

54:5-14. Schedule of fees for searches The official appointed as provided in section 54:5-11 of this Title shall receive, for each certificate issued by him, a fee of $10.00. Amended by L.1964, c. 256, s. 1; L.1977, c. 78, s. 1, eff. May 2, 1977.

54:5-15. Continuation searches; fee When the holder of a certificate issued as hereinbefore provided shall, within 3 years from the date thereof, apply for a continuation thereof, the fees charged therefor shall not exceed $2.00 per calendar year. Amended by L.1964, c. 256, s. 2;…

54:5-16 Searches certified as correct; duplicates kept. 54:5-16. Searches certified as correct; duplicates kept. All searches so made shall be certified as correct by the designated official, and the fees collected shall be paid by him to the governing body of the municipality. T…

54:5-17. Liens and outstanding certificates of tax sale not shown by search; persons protected A bona fide purchaser, lessee or mortgagee who shall acquire for a valuable consideration an interest in lands covered by an official tax search and in reliance on said search shall hol…

54:5-18. Failure to issue search or disclose official when demanded; effect If the official designated in the manner provided in section 54:5-11 of this title fails to issue the tax search at his office within the time provided by this article, or if the municipal clerk upon writ…

54:5-18.1. Searches for municipal improvements not assessed In addition to, but separate and apart from, the official certificates of searches for municipal liens as authorized by sections 54:5-11 et seq. of the Revised Statutes, the governing body of each municipality shall prov…

54:5-18.2. Certificates; contents Each such certificate shall, when such an ordinance has not been adopted, state that no ordinance has been adopted by the governing body of the municipality authorizing any improvement for which a future assessment will be made upon the parcel or…

54:5-18.3. Title of certificate; person making; issuance on application Said certificates shall be called "certificates as to liability for assessment for municipal improvements." The governing body of the municipality shall, by the resolution aforesaid, designate the municipal c…

54:5-18.4. Fee The official appointed as herein provided shall be entitled to demand and receive for each such certificate issued by him a reasonable fee, not in excess of those provided for in sections 54:5-14 and 54:5-15 of article three, chapter five, of Title 54 of the Revise…

54:5-18.5. Land covered by certificate free from subsequent improvement liens Any person who shall acquire for a valuable consideration an interest in lands covered by any such certificate in reliance thereon shall hold such interest free from any subsequent liens of the municipa…

54:5-18.6. Failure to issue certificate after demand; land free from future lien If the official designated to make and issue any such certificate fails to issue the same within fifteen days after receipt of an application therefor and the fees provided for herein, a person acqui…

54:5-19 Power of sale, "collector" and "officer" defined. 54:5-19. The term "collector" as hereinafter used includes any such officer, and the term "officer" includes the collector. A municipality shall have the authority to conduct both standard and accelerated tax sales. When u…

54:5-19.1 Electronic tax lien sales by municipalities. 1. a. Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, a municipality may satisfy requirements of the "tax sale law," R.S.54:5-1 et seq., electronically through the use of any nationally recognized electronic municipal t…

54:5-19.2 Definitions relative to contracts for property tax lien management services. 1. As used in this act: "Director" means the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs. "Property" means parcels of land and their improvement…

54:5-19.3 Contracts for property tax lien management services. 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the governing body of a qualified municipality, by resolution, may enter into contracts for property tax lien management services with organizations for t…

54:5-19.4 Contracts to include compensation to contractor, bases. 3. Contracts for property tax lien management services shall include compensation to the contractor based on any combination of the following mechanisms: a. A percentage of proceeds earned by the qualified municipa…

54:5-19.5 Approval process by governing body. 4. Contracts for property tax lien management shall be approved by the governing body of the qualified municipality and shall then be submitted to the director for approval. The mayor or other chief executive officer shall not execute…

54:5-19.6 Provision of information. 5. The municipal tax collector of the qualified municipality shall provide the property tax lien management service contractors with any and all information as the tax collector may have available that is related to tax liens, and shall make av…

54:5-19.7 Contracts considered professional service; duration. 6. Notwithstanding the provisions of the "Local Public Contracts Law," P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.) to the contrary, contracts for property tax lien management services shall be considered as a professional se…

54:5-2. "Land" , "municipality" and "municipal lien" defined As used in this chapter: "Land" or "lands" means and includes all real property; "Municipality" means and includes every taxing district having the machinery for the assessment and collection of taxes; "Municipal liens"…

54:5-20.1 Discretion of tax collector as to sale. 12. When a tax on real property, or other municipal fee or charge levied against real property, together with the interest, penalties, charges and costs of advertising, would amount to less than $100, it shall be discretionary wit…

54:5-21 Lands listed for sale; liens listed; installments added. 54:5-21. The collector shall make a list of the lands so subject to sale, describing them in accordance with the last tax duplicate, including the name of the owner as shown on the duplicate, amplifying the descript…

54:5-22. Installments not yet due may be excluded; procedure When an assessment for benefits for municipal improvements is payable in installments by virtue of any law, ordinance or resolution and under the terms of that law, ordinance or resolution, or of any other law, the whol…

54:5-23. List of installments not due; statement in certificate of sale When installments not yet due are not included in the amount for which sale is made, the amount of such installments shall, nevertheless, be included in the list made up under section 54:5-21 of this Title, b…

54:5-24 Maintenance of list. 54:5-24. The list shall be maintained as a permanent record of that office. The list shall be either a bound book or a bound hard copy of a computer-generated list. The list may be made up in one or more sections and the term "list" as used in this ch…

54:5-25. Notice of sale; contents 54:5-25. After completing the list or sections thereof the collector shall give public notice of the time and place of sale, stating the description of the several lots and parcels of land and the owner's name as contained in the list, together w…

54:5-26 Notice of tax sale; posting, publication. 54:5-26. Copies of the notice of a tax sale shall be set up in five of the most public places in the municipality, and a copy of the notice shall be published in a newspaper circulating in the municipality, once in each of the fou…

54:5-27. Notice to owner; mailing When the owner's name appears in the list and his post-office address is known, the collector shall mail to him at that address, postage prepaid, a copy of the notice. Failure to mail the notice shall not invalidate any proceeding hereunder.

54:5-28. Sale; adjournments; restrictions; readvertisement At the time and place fixed for the sale and from time to time thereafter the collector may adjourn the sale in his discretion, either for want of bidders or at the request of persons interested, or for any other reason s…

54:5-29 Payment of amount due prior to tax sale; priority. 54:5-29. At any time before sale the collector shall receive payment of the amount due on any property, together with the interest and costs set forth in R.S.54:5-38, incurred up to the time of payment. When a taxpayer wh…

54:5-3. Construction as remedial legislation This chapter shall be deemed to be a remedial statute and to operate both prospectively and retrospectively, and be liberally construed to effectuate the remedial objects thereof.

54:5-30. Notice of sale attached to list At or before the time advertised for sale the collector shall attach to the list or section thereof a copy of the notice of sale, with affidavits of the advertisement, posting and mailing thereof.