ASSEMBLY, No. 95

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblyman ROONEY

An Act prohibiting adverse possession of State-owned property and supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

    1. a. Nothwithstanding any other provision of law, title to real property owned by the State, any agency thereof, or any political subdivision of the State, whether or not the real property is dedicated to or used for a public purpose, cannot be acquired by adverse possession. Actions brought by the State, any agency thereof, or any political subdivision of this State for the recovery of any publicly owned real property shall not be time-barred.

    b. As used in this act, "real property' shall mean lands, structures, franchises and interests in land, including air space and air rights, waters, lands under water and riparian rights, and any and all things and rights encompassed by the said term, and includes, not only fees simple absolute but also any and all lesser interests, including, but not limited to easements, rights of way, uses, leases and licenses.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    In Devins v. Borough of Bogota, 124 N.J. 570 (1991), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that municipally owned property which has not been dedicated or used for a public purpose is subject to acquisition by adverse possession. Prior to the Devins ruling, it had been generally held that property owned by any governmental entity could not be acquired by adverse possession. This bill would reverse the holding in Devins and provide that property held by a governmental entity, whether dedicated for a public purpose or not, cannot be acquired by adverse possession.

Exempts government-owned property from adverse possession and eliminates statute of limitation period for recovery.