[Second Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 5000

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 7, 2019

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  GABRIELA M. MOSQUERA

District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)

Assemblywoman  VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Assemblyman  BENJIE E. WIMBERLY

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

Senator  TROY SINGLETON

District 7 (Burlington)

Senator  STEVEN V. OROHO

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Senator  DAWN MARIE ADDIEGO

District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywomen Murphy, Lampitt and Jasey

SYNOPSIS

Requires DCA to produce and maintain database and interactive map concerning residential properties under foreclosure; increases certain recording fees as funding mechanism.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on March 18, 2019, with amendments.

An Act concerning residential properties under foreclosure, supplementing P.L.2008, c.127 (C.55:14K-82 et al.).

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

      1.   a.  The Department of ¹[Banking and Insurance] Community Affairs¹ shall produce a database with an interactive mapping component which details, and provides a graphic representation to allow the department to visualize, the extent to which residential properties in this State are under foreclosure pursuant to the “Fair Foreclosure Act,” P.L.1995, c.244 (C.2A:50-53 et seq.).  The department shall develop, maintain, and update the database ¹[in real time]¹ based upon information submitted to the department by, and in cooperation with, ¹the county clerks, the county registers of deeds and mortgages, the county sheriffs, and¹ the Administrative Office of the Courts pursuant to section 2 of ¹[this act] P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)¹, and information obtained from any other public sources.

      b.   The database shall contain, and the map shall represent:

      (1)  The location of each residential property under foreclosure by county, municipality, lot and block number;

      (2)  the current owner of record;

      (3)  the date ¹[that]¹ the ¹[notice of intention to foreclose] lis pendens¹ is filed;

      (4)  the date the foreclosure complaint is filed;

      (5)  the date of judgment of foreclosure; ²[and]²

      (6)  the date of any deed transfer pursuant to a sheriff’s sale and the name of the purchaser²;

(7)  any person responsible for maintenance of the property and that person’s contact information; and

(8)  secondary lien holders and their contact information.

c.   The database shall be considered confidential and shall be used only by the department, the county clerks, the county registers of deeds and mortgages, the county sheriffs, the Administrative Office of the Courts and such other agencies as the Commissioner of Community Affairs designates, except that a municipality shall have access to the database only with respect to information pertaining to the geographical area within the municipality’s jurisdiction. The database shall not be subject to public access, inspection or copying pursuant to P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.) or the common law concerning access to public records².

²¹[c.] d.² The Commissioner of Community Affairs may adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968,  c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the provisions of P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).¹

      2.   The ¹county clerks, the county registers of deeds and mortgages, the county sheriffs, and the¹ Administrative Office of the Courts shall ¹, as appropriate,¹ provide the Department of ¹[Banking and Insurance] Community Affairs¹ with as much of the information listed in subsection b. of section 1 of ¹[this act] P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)¹ with respect to ¹[the] residential¹ property ¹under foreclosure¹ as is reasonably available from records maintained by, or accessible to, the ¹[office] offices¹.  The information shall be provided ¹[in real time] daily¹ in ¹[a] an electronic¹ format ¹[, electronic or otherwise,]¹ as is useful to the department to develop, maintain ¹,¹ and update the database and map required by section 1 of ¹[this act] P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)¹.

      3.   As of the effective date of ¹[this act] P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)¹, the revenue from additional fees for recording deeds and lis pendens fees collected by county clerks and registers of deeds and mortgages and received by the Department of ¹[Banking and Insurance] Community Affairs¹, pursuant to section 4 of ¹[this act] P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)¹, shall be deposited into a separate fund within the department and shall only be used by the department for the purpose of developing, maintaining, and updating the database ¹and map¹ created pursuant to section 1 of ¹[this act] P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)¹.

      4.   In addition to each fee for the recording of a deed or a lis pendens collected by county clerks and registers of deeds and mortgages pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1965, c.123 (C.22A:4-4.1) and any other rule, regulation, or law, an amount of $30 shall be collected by the county clerks and registers of deeds and mortgages on the recording of each deed or lis pendens.  The revenues obtained from these increased amounts, after deduction of any actual administrative costs incurred by county clerks ¹[and] , county¹ registers of deeds and mortgages ¹, and county sheriffs¹ in carrying out the provisions of ¹[this subsection] P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)¹, shall be transmitted quarterly by the ¹[office of the]¹ county ¹[clerk or register of deeds and mortgages, as appropriate,]¹ to the Department of ¹[Banking and Insurance] Community Affairs¹, for the purposes set forth in sections 1 through 3 of ¹[this act] P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)¹.

²5. A residential mortgage lender that serves a summons and complaint in an action to foreclose on a mortgage on a residential property in this State pursuant to the “Fair Foreclosure Act,” P.L.1995, c.244 (C.2A:50-53 et seq.), shall, within 10 days of serving the summons and complaint, notify the municipal clerk, the municipal tax collector, and the chief of police in the municipality in which the property is located, and all public utilities as defined in R.S.48:2-13 which provide services in the municipality in which the property is located, and the county executive in the county in which the property is located, that a summons and complaint in an action to foreclose on a mortgage has been filed against the property.²

²[5.] 6.²   This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment ¹, but the Commissioner of Community Affairs may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act¹.