Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The following deed transactions are not usable
in determining assessment-sales ratios pursuant to N.J.S.A.
54:1-35. 1 et seq.:
1. Sales between immediate family
members;
2. Sales in which "love and
affection" are stated as part of the consideration;
3. Sales between a corporation and its
stockholder, its subsidiary, its affiliate, or another corporation whose stock is in
the same ownership;
4. Transfers of
convenience; for example, transfers correcting defects in title, a transfer by a
husband either through a third party or directly to himself and his wife for the
purpose of creating a tenancy by the entirety, etc.;
5. Transfers that did not occur within the
sampling period. Sampling period is defined as the period from July 1 to June 30,
inclusive, preceding the date of promulgation of the Director's Table of Equalized
Valuation, except as otherwise stated. The recording date of the deed within this
period is the determining date since it is the date of official record. Where the
date of deed or date of formal sales agreement occurred prior to January 1, next
preceding the commencement date of the sampling period, the sale shall be
nonusable;
6. Sales of property
conveying only a portion of the assessed unit, for example, a parcel sold out of a
larger tract where the assessment is for the larger tract, usually referred to as
subdivisions, split-offs, or cut-offs;
7. Sales of property substantially improved
subsequent to assessment and prior to the date of sale;
8. Sales of an undivided interest in real
property;
9. Sales of property that are
subject to an outstanding Municipal Tax Sales Certificate, a lien for more than one
year in unpaid taxes on real property pursuant to N.J.S.A.
54:5-6, or other governmental
lien;
10. Sales by guardians,
testamentary trustees, executors, and administrators;
11. Judicial sales such as partition
sales;
12. Sheriff's sales;
13. Sales in proceedings in bankruptcy,
receivership, or assignment for the benefit of creditors, dissolution or liquidation
sales, and short sales;
14. Sales of
doubtful title including, but not limited to, quit-claim deeds;
15. Sales to or from the United States of America,
the State of New Jersey, or any political subdivision of the State of New Jersey,
including boards of education and public authorities;
16. Sales of property assessed in more than one
taxing district;
17. Sales to or from
any charitable, religious, or benevolent organization;
18. Transfers to banks, insurance companies,
savings and loan associations, mortgage companies, or other financial institutions
when the transfer is made in lieu of foreclosure;
19. Sales of property for which assessed value has
been or is substantially affected by demolition, fire, documented environmental
contamination, or other physical damage subsequent to assessment and prior to the
date of sale;
20. Acquisitions, resale,
or transfer by railroads, pipeline companies, or other public utility corporations
for easements or right-of-way purposes;
21. Sales of low/moderate income housing as
established by the Council on Affordable Housing;
22. Transfers of property in exchange for other
real estate, stocks, bonds, or other personal property;
23. Sales of commercial or industrial real
property, which include machinery, fixtures, equipment, inventories, licenses, or
goodwill when the values of such items are indeterminable;
24. Sales of property, the value of which has been
or is substantially influenced by zoning changes, planning board approvals,
variances, or rent control provisions subsequent to assessment and prior to the
sale;
25. Transfers in which the full
consideration as defined in the "Realty Transfer Fee Act" is less than $
100.00;
26. Sales that for reasons other
than specified in the enumerated categories are not considered to be between a
willing, knowledgeable buyer, not compelled to buy, and a willing, knowledgeable
seller, not compelled to sell;
27. Sales
occurring within the sampling period but prior to a change in assessment resulting
from a recognized revaluation or reassessment, that is, sales recorded during the
period July 1 to December 31 next preceding the tax year in which the revaluation or
reassessment value is placed on the tax roll;
28. Sales of property subject to leaseback
arrangements;
29. Sales of property
subsequent to the year of appeal, where the assessed values are set by court order,
consent judgment, or the "Freeze Act";
30. Sales in which multiple parcels are conveyed
collectively as one transaction with an arbitrary allocation of the sale price of
each parcel;
31. First sale after
foreclosure by a Federal- or State-chartered financial institution;
32. Sales of a property in which an entire
building or taxable structure is omitted from the assessment; and
33. Sales of qualified farmland or currently
exempt or abated property.
(b) Transfers within the foregoing category
numbers 1, 3, 9, 10, 15, 17, 26, and 28 (under (a) above), should generally be
excluded but may be used if after full investigation it clearly appears that the
transaction was a sale between a willing buyer, not compelled to buy, and a willing
seller, not compelled to sell, with all conditions requisite to a fair sale with the
buyer and seller acting knowledgeably and for their own self-interests, and that the
transaction meets all other requisites of a usable sale.