Recent Blog Posts

• Are Condominium Unit Owners Unconditionally Obligated to Pay Common Expense Assessments? The short answer is – Yes! The Condominium Act specifically obligates all unit owners to pay a proportionate share of the common expenses. Even where a unit owner waives the right to use a common element or abandons the unit there is no exemption from liability for common expenses. The Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 to -38, provides in pertinent part: A unit owner, shall by acceptance of title, be conclusively presumed to have agreed to pay his proportionate share of common expenses accruing while he is the owner of a unit. . . . No unit owner may exempt himself from liability for his share of common expenses by waiver of the enjoyment of the right to use any of the common elements or abandonment of his unit or otherwise . . . [N.J.S.A. 46:8B-17.] The “or otherwise” language implies that the obligation of unit owners to pay the proportionate share of the common expense is absolute and does not yield to other considerations, such as disputes with the Association. See Holbert v. Great ....
• Recovering Damages Under the Statute of Repose Under the statute of repose, no action to recover damages for any deficiency in the design, planning, surveying, supervision or construction of an improvement to real property may be brought more than ten (10) years after the performance of “such services and construction.” N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1.1. Essentially, the statute of repose provides that an injury occurring more than ten years after completion of improvements to real property does not give rise to a cause of action at all. The New Jersey Supreme Court has held that the ten-year statute of repose for bringing an action against a contractor or an architect begins to run as of “substantial completion” of the real property. Russo Farms v. Vineland Bd. of Educ., 144 N.J. 84, 117 (1996). The Court defined “substantial completion” as the date when construction is sufficiently complete so that an owner can occupy or utilize the building. Therefore, generally when the architect certifies as much to the owner and a Certificate of Occupancy ....
• How Does Equitable Tolling Affect the Running of the Statute of Limitations? The doctrine of equitable estoppel prevents a defendant from asserting the statute of limitations as a defense when the defendant has engaged in conduct that was calculated to mislead the plaintiff into believing that it was unnecessary to file suit. Thus, our courts have recognized that equitable estoppel may be appropriate where a defendant has lulled plaintiff into a false sense of security by representing that a claim will be amicably settled or resolved without the necessity for litigation. Such is the case when an association is engaged in settlement discussions with a developer and the developer promises to repair all identified defects and water intrusion issues in the community. The important caveat regarding equitable tolling is that if, after the cessation of any basis for continued reliance by a plaintiff on the conduct of a defendant, there remains a reasonable time under the applicable limitations period to commence a cause of action, the action will be barred if not ....
• How Transition Affects the Statute of Limitations Analysis The novel nature of condominium ownership, specifically the transition process, affects the statute of limitations analysis. The Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act requires that the developer of a condominium staff the board of trustees of an association and control the affairs of the association until seventy-five percent of the units in the development are sold. During that period of control, the developer is under a fiduciary responsibility to the association to act in the best interest of the association and its membership. Pragmatically speaking, however, a developer-controlled association is much different than a homeowner controlled association. Even if certain problems with construction are discovered during developer-control, it cannot be realistically expected that the developer-controlled board would take steps to investigate those defects and litigate, on behalf of the association, if necessary. Therefore, equity and common sense suggest that the earliest ....
• How the Discovery Rule Affects the Statute of Limitations In New Jersey, construction defect claims are subject to a six-year statute of limitations, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1, which is subject to the discovery rule, and a separate ten-year statute of absolute repose, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1, after which potential causes of action no longer exist. Under New Jersey’s discovery rule, the accrual of a cause of action is deferred until the injured person knows or should know that he has sustained an injury and knows or should know that an injury of which he is aware is attributable to the fault of another person. The discovery rule is an equitable principle by which an accrual of a cause of action is delayed until the injured party discovers, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence and intelligence, should have discovered, that he may have a basis for an actionable claim. Once the injured party knows that it has been injured and that the injury is the fault of another, it has the requisite knowledge for the period of limitations to commence running. Put ....
• Difference Between Statute of Limitations and Statute of Repose Statutes of repose and limitations establish different types of deadlines for the assertion of claims. Statutes of repose begin to run at an identifiable time or event and allow a claim to be filed for a specific amount of time after that event has occurred. After the expiration of the repose period, no claim will be deemed to have accrued and none may be filed. A statute of repose does not function to bar an existing cause of action; rather, it prevents what might otherwise be a cause of action from ever arising. Statutes of limitations, on the other hand, commence at the time a claim accrues and run for a specified amount of time. After a claim accrues, the statute of limitations begins to run and an action may be filed until the end of the limitations period or the end of the repose period, whichever comes first. New Jersey follows the discovery rule, which tolls the running of the statute of limitations until the time when plaintiff has or reasonable should have knowledge of injury ....
• How Can Homeowners Protect Themselves When Hiring Contractors for Home Improvements? All too often homeowners engage a contractor to perform certain home improvements and/or maintenance functions and end up in a fight with the contractor either over the work or amount of payment or both.  Recognizing the disparity in leverage and technical knowledge, the Legislature and the New Jersey Division of Community Affairs have promulgated laws and regulations designed to give homeowners powerful rights to protect them when they undertake maintenance and improvement projects.  With these enactments, the onus is placed where it belongs, on the shoulders of the home improvement contracts to insure they act fairly and honestly when performing projects that affect a person’s home.   Deception, fraud and misrepresentation are not tolerated.  Every home improvement contractor doing business in New Jersey is obligated to comply with New Jersey law, even if they are not aware of the law’s requirements.  The Consumer Fraud Act and the Home ....
• Construction Defect Plaintiffs: Be Aware of the Statute of Repose Gene Markin, member of Stark & Stark’s Construction Litigation Group, authored the article, Construction Defect Plaintiffs: Be Aware of the Statute of Repose, for the March 19, 2012 edition of the New Jersey Law Journal. The article discusses the fact that in New Jersey, litigations need to be aware of the “statue of repose” in addition to the statue of limitations. Mr. Markin states that statute of repose issues will most commonly arise in the area of construction defect litigation, when a lawsuit is filed more than 10 years after the construction of a building. You can read the full article online here. (PDF) ....
• Buyer Beware of Defects in New Construction Gene Markin, member of Stark & Stark’s Construction Litigation Group, authored the article, Buyer Beware of Defects in New Construction, for the January 30, 2012 edition of the New Jersey Law Journal. The article discusses why the remedy under the homeowner warranty program, may not be a remedy at all. In the article, Mr. Markin states, “Since its inception, the New Jersey Home Warranty and Builders’ Registration Act, N.J.S.A. 46:3B-1 to -20, has proven to be more of a trap for new homeowners than the safety net it was purported to be. The purpose of the act is to establish a program requir¬ing that newly constructed homes con¬form to certain construction and quality standards, as well as to provide buyers of new homes with insurance-backed warranty protection in the event such standards are not met. While the intent of the act is to provide homeowners with a prompt, convenient and cost-saving means of resolving disputes con¬cerning construction defects, in reality, its effect has ....
• Trespass Actions Under the Tort Claims Act An action for trespass arises upon the unauthorized entry onto another's property, real or personal. A trespass on property, whether real or personal, is actionable, irrespective of any appreciable injury. Under a trespass theory, a plaintiff may "assert a claim for whatever damages the facts may lawfully warrant." Thus, a plaintiff may claim damages from the loss in value to the land trespassed upon, as well as consequential damages such as property taxes and loss of profits. While a municipality enjoys immunity for its exercise of discretion and judgment in the development of a sewer and drainage plan, such immunity does not protect it from liability for the creation of a nuisance or actual trespass. ....
• When Can Individual Association Board Members Be Held Personally Liable For Actions of the Collective Board? Part 5 This blog is the fifth and final installment in a series of posts discussing an individual’s potential liability for the collective decisions made by their board. Be sure to read our previous posts online here. A Board that acts in reliance upon advice of its experts and legal professionals cannot be held liable for negligence or breach of fiduciary duty if that advice turns out to be wrong. A provision of the New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act specifically provides, in relevant part: Trustees and members of any committee designated by the board shall discharge their duties in good faith and with that degree of diligence, care and skill which ordinary, prudent persons would exercise under similar circumstances in like positions. In discharging their duties, trustees and members of any committee designated by the board shall not be liable if, acting in good faith, they rely on the opinion of counsel for the corporation or upon written reports setting forth financial data concerning ....
• When Can An Action for Nuisance Be Brought Against a Public Entity? An action for nuisance may be brought against a public entity unhampered by the TCA. Private nuisance is but one possible theory for recovery of damages caused by the invasion of one's interest in the private use and enjoyment of land. That interest may be invaded by more than one type of conduct, i.e., the conduct may be intentional, it may be unintentional but caused by negligent or reckless conduct, or it may result from an abnormally dangerous activity for which there is strict liability. One is subject to liability for private nuisance if the invasion is either: (a) intentional and unreasonable, or (b) unintentional and otherwise actionable under the rules controlling liability for negligent or reckless conduct, or for abnormally dangerous conditions or activities. [Restatement (Second) of Torts, � 822 (1979).] The conduct necessary to make the actor liable for a private nuisance may consist of an act or a failure to act under circumstances in which the actor is under a duty to ....
• When Can Individual Association Board Members Be Held Personally Liable For Actions of the Collective Board? Part 4 This blog is the fourth in a series of posts discussing an individual’s potential liability for the collective decisions made by their board. Be sure to read our previous posts online here. When liability for any of these breaches is imposed on an individual director or trustee, the issue of indemnification arises. In New Jersey, because condominium associations are generally organized as not-for-profit corporations under the Nonprofit Corporation Act, indemnification may be available to an officer of an entity organized under this Act provided that the officer (1) “acted in good faith and in a manner which the [officer] reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation,” and (2) “with respect to an criminal proceeding, the [officer] had no reasonable cause to believe the conduct was unlawful.” N.J.S.A. 15A:3-4(b). If the director can satisfy this standard, he can recover from the association both expenses incurred in the litigation and the amount ....
• Design and Plan Immunity The immunity principle espoused by the Barney’s Furniture court (concluding that the city could not be held liable in damages for floods resulting from a gradually increasing functional incapacity of the sewer system) is codified as the planning and design immunity provision of the TCA. See N.J.S.A. 59:4-6. The Act's plan or design immunity is granted because such decisions are "an example of the type of highly discretionary governmental activity which the courts have recognized should not be subject to the threat of tort liability." N.J.S.A. 59:4-6 cmt. Thus, under Barney's Furniture, as well as under the Tort Claims Act, a public entity may establish plan or design immunity for its original construction of a drainage system. Once it does, "no subsequent event or change of condition shall render a public entity liable on the theory that the existing plan or design of public property constitutes a dangerous condition." N.J.S.A. 59:4-6 cmt. Although plan or design immunity does not ....
• When Can Individual Association Board Members Be Held Personally Liable For Actions of the Collective Board? Part 3 This blog is the third in a series of posts discussing an individual’s potential liability for the collective decisions made by their board. Be sure to read our previous posts online here. New Jersey courts that have considered the application of the business judgment rule have concluded that the scope of judicial review of condominium association decisions is limited to a two-pronged test: (1) whether an association's action was authorized by statute or its own bylaws and, if so, (2) whether the action was fraudulent, self-dealing or unconscionable. Thanasoulis, supra, 110 N.J. at 655; see also Chin v. Coventry Square Condo, 270 N.J. Super. 323, 328-29, (App. Div. 1994); Siller, supra, 93 N.J. at 382; Papalexiou v. Tower West Condo, 167 N.J. Super. 516, 527 (Ch. Div. 1979). In Thanasoulis, the New Jersey Supreme Court considered whether a rule adopted by the board of directors of a condominium association increasing the parking fee for tenants of nonresidents owners but not for those ....
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