Bill Text: NJ A606 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits entry on adjoining property to make improvements or repairs in certain situations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee [A606 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A606-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN DIMAIO
District 23 (Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Webber
SYNOPSIS
Permits entry on adjoining property to make improvements or repairs in certain situations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning entry on adjoining property to make improvements or repairs and supplementing Title 46 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:18-3 or any other law to the contrary, an owner or lessee who enters an adjoining property without permission from its owner to make improvements or repairs to real property, a building, or structure so situated that such improvements or repairs cannot be made without entering the adjoining property shall not be deemed guilty of trespass or liable civilly for damages, provided that:
(1) The entry is made expeditiously and with due care to prevent damage to the land, buildings, or structures of the adjoining property;
(2) The owner or lessee making improvements or repairs requests permission to enter the adjoining property from its owner;
(3) The owner or lessee making improvements or repairs notifies the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality, or of the State Police station nearest to the municipality, in which the adjoining property is located that he has requested permission to enter the adjoining property from its owner, such permission has been refused by the owner, and that he intends to enter the adjoining property for a stated number of days to make improvements or repairs pursuant to this section;
(4) Before entering the adjoining property, the owner or lessee making improvements or repairs posts a bond with the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality, or of the State Police station nearest to the municipality, in which the adjoining property is located in the amount of $1,000 to protect the adjoining property owner from any actual damage to property caused by the entry; and
(5) The owner or lessee making improvements or repairs restores the adjoining property to the condition in which it was prior to the entry.
b. An owner or lessee who enters an adjoining property to make improvements or repairs pursuant to this section shall not remain, or store materials or tools, on the adjoining property for more than eight hours in any one day or continue to enter the adjoining property for more than 30 days, in the aggregate, in any calendar year.
2. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would permit an owner attempting to make improvements or repairs to his property to enter an adjoining property without being deemed guilty of criminal trespass or incurring liability for civil trespass. Before the owner can enter the adjoining property, he must have requested and been denied permission to enter the adjoining property from its owner. Under the bill, the owner making improvements or repairs must notify the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality in which the adjoining property is located of his plans to enter the adjoining property and demonstrate that he has requested and been denied permission to enter the adjoining property. The owner must also post a $1,000 bond with the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality in which the adjoining property is located to protect the adjoining owner from potential actual property damage caused by the entry. If the municipality does not have a local police force, the owner would be required to notify and post a bond with the chief law enforcement officer of the nearest State Police station.
Under this bill, work cannot continue on the adjoining property for more than 30 days and material or tools cannot remain on the adjoining property for more than eight hours in any one day. The neighbor must make his entry expeditiously and with due care to prevent damage to the land, buildings, or structures of the adjoining property and restore the adjoining property to the condition it was in prior to the entry.
