State's high court rules man can keep rental property
Case involved unpaid Paterson sewer taxes
By: Joe Malinconico
Paterson Press
PATERSON - The foreclosure didn't seem fair to Alessandor Roberto.
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But Roberto had a lingering problem over $606 in unpaid sewer taxes dating from 2010 and 2016, and gradually his debt on those tax lens grew to $32,973 with interest and other costs over the years. In February 2022, a judge entered a final judgment that cost Roberto his property - which was worth about half a million dollars.
..... That judgment marked Roberto's low point. on Thursday, [01/09/2025] the 75-year-old resident of Totowa celebrated a new high. A favorable opinion by the New Jersey Supreme Court in his case bough tears to his eyes.
..... "emotionally, I was up in the sky,: Roberto said of his feelings when his lawyer, Glenn Reiser, told him about the Supreme Court decision.
..... In a 5-0 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld lower court decision that said Roberto could retain his property under an "exceptional circumstances' rule in New Jersey's Tax Sale Law. In essence, the courts said it would be equinoctial for Roberto to forfeit the equity - including the $200,000 he spent on renovations - he had put into the property as a penalty for the $32,973 tax lien.
..... The lower courts on the tax liens, along with 412,400 for attorney fees for the investor, which operated as a limited liberality corporation named 157-161 20th Avenue Realty.
..... In New Jersey, municipal governments maintain their property tax cash flow by selling liens on delinquent sites for the price of the unpaid taxes. Investment companies like 20th Avenue Realty, buy the lines in a system that allows them to impose a minimum of 18% interest per year.
..... If the property owner doesn't pay off the lien with interest within six months the investors are allowed to begin foreclosure proceedings. in this case, 20th Avenue Realty brought the liens on Roberto's property many years ago but did not start foreclosure until 2021.
First time before high court
..... Roberto credited Reiser for his legal acumen in winning the case. Reiser said he had prevailed in 11 similar tax lien cases, all of which he said involved people who had no mortgages and substantial equity in their property.
..... None of those other tax lien holders appealed the decisions, he said. Resier said he never before argued a case before the state Supreme Court, and he admitted feeling a little nervous.
..... "I couldn't believe I was standing in that court arguing a case before the most brilliant legal minds in New Jersey," Reiser said. "It surreal. But once I got started, all the nerves wore off."
.... Elliot Almanza, the attorney who represented 20th Gentry Realty, declined to discuss the ruling. "We respect the court's decision," he said.
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Lawyers representing the Nation la Tax Lien Association and the New Jersey Land Title Association field legal briefs supporting 20th Avenue Reality, arguing that the lower court decisions would undercut the ability of municipalities to generate tax revenue.
Minnesota precedent
.... But several lawyers told Paterson Press that the ruling on Roberto's property likely won't affect many other people involved in tax lien foreclosure disputes. That's because the United States Supreme Court in 2023 made a ruling on a Minnesota case involving property seizure for unpaid taxes that now looms as precedent.
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New Jersey appellate court in December 2023 cited the Minnesota case a sits basis for ruling in Roberto's favor. Reiser said that appellate decision then prompted the New Jersey Legislature to change state law on tax lien foreclosures.
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"My victory, it's not just for me, it's for all the other people who are in my position, or even worse," Roberto said.
..... The 75-year-old said he had thought he resolved the sewer tax problem years ago when he gave a different lawyer $2,000 to pay off the debt at that time. He said he;s not sure what happened with that payment.
..... A retied construction handyman, Roberto still speaks with an ascent revealing his Italian heritage, even though he immigrated to the United States almost 60 years ago from Serino,a small town about 22 miles outside Naples.
..... "I lived in the United States since January 22, 1968," he said. "That was the day that changed my life."
..... Roberto said he never felt doubt about the outcome of the legal battle over his property.
..... "I was confident in American justice," he said.