CAI-NJ Sept. 2019update

some owners are not paying the mort- gage, they also are not paying the maintenance fees either. Of course, an association’s annual budget is based on the annual operating costs divided by the number of units. Those numbers account for the maintenance fee per unit. Unfortunately, even when your asso- ciation has just one unit in foreclosure and not paying the maintenance fees, the net effect is all of the paying unit owners are burdened with the additional obligation of paying more to make up the difference. This is particularly frustrating because by law the Association has no recourse to foreclose over the bank. Prior law which existed for many years provided for a one-time 6 month maintenance fee super-priority. Thus, at the conclusion of the foreclosure pro- cess, an association would be entitled to only six months of the maintenance fees over the bank. That was it. Perhaps that remedy was palatable when, over a decade ago, a foreclo- sure lasted approximately 12 months (more or less). Nevertheless, the old six month limited priority became completely unworkable in today’s reality where even a simple uncontested foreclo- sure can last 5, 6, 7 years or more. Frustration builds and demands a leg- islative remedy when all of the paying unit owners are paying more to carry the budget for the non-paying owners. Now, under the current recently passed law, the association is entitled to recover six months of maintenance fees for every year the foreclosure lasts. While not perfect in every way, this is a major achievement meaning CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 28

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