Rice Introduces Bill to Manage and Rehabilitate Abandoned Properties

TRENTON – Senate Community and Urban Affairs Vice Chair Ronald L. Rice today introduced a bill that would encourage accountability among municipalities and property owners for the rehabilitation of abandoned properties.

The bill, S-2882, requires that in order to receive municipal aid, municipalities must maintain a registry of abandoned properties and send notices to their owners or agents to submit quarterly reports of detailed rehabilitation efforts.  The registry would be submitted to the Division of Local Government Services within the Department of Community Affairs for publication of an online database.

The bill authorizes a municipality to hold a special tax sale concerning any abandoned property if the property is eligible and the owner of the property fails to accurately and completely verify the receipt of the municipality’s notice within 30 days.  If the property owner adequately responds to the notice, the property would not be eligible for a special tax sale.

“Our urban and low-income neighborhoods are often littered with unsightly, unsafe abandoned buildings that become part of a downward economic and social spiral for residents.  It’s unfair for owners to allow their properties to become derelict at the expense of the community’s well-being,” said Senator Rice (D-Essex).  “This bill provides incentive for municipalities to make property owners accountable for maintenance and rehabilitation.”

In order to defray the costs associated with implementing this bill, municipalities would be authorized to impose and collect an annual fee on the owner of each abandoned property.  The unpaid fees would constitute a lien on the property and would be collected in the same manner as property taxes.

The bill provides that a municipality will not receive municipal aid during any fiscal year in which it fails to comply with the legislation’s provisions.  Such aid includes Energy Tax Receipts Property Tax Relief Aid, Consolidated Municipal Property Tax Relief Aid, Transitional Aid to Localities or any successor discretionary aid program for municipalities in fiscal distress.