Bill Text: NJ S519 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Allows certain National Guard and United States Reserve members on federal active duty to temporarily defer mortgage loan payments and suspend property tax payments.*
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-01-11 - Received in the Assembly without Reference, 2nd Reading [S519 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S519-Amended.html
SENATE, No. 519
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator NIA H. GILL
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Senator JEFF VAN DREW
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Allows certain National Guard and United States Reserve members on federal active duty to temporarily suspend mortgage loan and property tax payments.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee on December 14, 2015, with amendments.
An Act concerning the payment of 1[interest on]1 mortgage loans 1and of property taxes1 by certain persons in military service on federal active duty and supplementing P.L.1979, c.317 (C.38:23C-1 et seq.) 1and chapter 4 of Title 54 of the New Jersey Statutes1.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
1"Interest" means every charge paid to the lender or contracted for by the lender and the borrower in connection with or as an incident of a loan, whether designated as interest or as a finance charge or otherwise, except that the term shall include the following charges when made pursuant to law: escrow, late or delinquency charges; attorneys' and collection fees; insurance premiums; recording or filing fees; and all other charges which may lawfully be made on loans in addition to interest or finance charges.1
"Mortgagee" means the holder of a mortgage loan 1that is a State chartered bank, savings bank, savings and loan association or credit union, any person required to be licensed under the provisions of the "New Jersey Residential Mortgage Lending Act," sections 1 through 39 of P.L.2009, c.53 (C.17:11C-51 et seq.), and any entity acting on behalf of the mortgagee named in the debt obligation including, but not limited to, servicers1.
"Mortgage loan" means a loan made to a natural person or persons to whom credit is offered or extended primarily for personal, family or household purposes which is secured by a mortgage constituting a lien upon real property located in this State on which there is erected or to be erected a structure, which is the primary residence of the natural person or persons, containing one to six dwelling units, a portion of which structure may be used for nonresidential purposes, in the making of which the mortgagee relies primarily upon the value of the mortgaged property.
b. A person domiciled in this State who is called to mobilization for federal active duty as a member of the National Guard or a Reserve Component of the Armed Forces of the United States may1, at the person's discretion,1 secure, if a request is made during this period of mobilization, a suspension of the payment of interest 1and principal1 on a mortgage loan that was secured by the person, or the person and another person jointly, before the mobilization for federal active duty.
c. A person may make a request pursuant to subsection b. of this section by mailing a written request to the mortgagee which shall include: (1) a copy of the person's military orders or an affidavit stating that the person is in service on federal active duty, and (2) the name, address, and phone number of an individual who may be contacted regarding the mortgage loan while the person is in service on federal active duty. Upon receipt of the request with the required information, the mortgagee shall grant a suspension of the payment of interest 1and principal1, effective as of the date on which the person is mobilized for federal active duty. The suspension shall remain in effect while that person remains in service on federal active duty, and 1[interest] the payments1 that 1[was incurred] were suspended1 during that time shall be paid, after the expiration of the suspension, in equal installments over the remaining term of the mortgage loan. The suspension shall expire 1[one month] 90 days1 after the person is released from 1[service on federal active duty] mobilization1.
1[d. Nothing contained in this section shall affect the payment of loan principal, escrow, or other fees, as required by the loan agreement.]1
12. a. A person domiciled in this State who is called to mobilization for federal active duty as a member of the National Guard or a Reserve Component of the Armed Forces shall be entitled to a suspension of payment of the amount of any tax bill for taxes assessed against real and personal property solely owned by the resident, or with a spouse, that becomes due while the resident is deployed for active service. The suspension shall commence on the tax due date, and shall end 90 days after the person is released from mobilization. The tax amount suspended shall be due and owing on the first day following the 90-day grace period, and shall be paid to the tax collector of the municipality in which the property is located. No interest shall be charged when the suspended property tax amount is paid in full within the 90-day grace period. When the property tax amount is not paid in full within the grace period, interest shall be charged on any unpaid amount at the rate it would have accrued since the original property tax due date.
b. No suspension of any tax amount assessed against real and personal property pursuant to this section shall be allowed except upon written application therefor, on a form prescribed by the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, and provided by the governing body of the municipality constituting the taxing district in which the application is to be filed. The application shall specify any documentation required to be submitted in order to ascertain that the applicant is qualified to receive the suspension of payment. The Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
c. A resident eligible for a suspension of any tax amount assessed against real and personal property pursuant to this section, or a person acting on behalf of the resident, shall file an application for suspension of payment with the tax collector of the municipality in which the property is located. The application shall be accompanied by any documentation required to be submitted pursuant to this section.
d. The State shall annually pay to the tax collector of each municipality the total amount of property tax payment suspended pursuant to this section plus 2%, in the same manner as veteran's property tax deductions are reimbursed pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1997, c.30 (C.54:4-8.24). The tax collector of each municipality shall refund this amount to the State in installments upon collection of the suspended payments from the individual taxpayers along with any interest collected for payments made after the expiration of a taxpayer's grace period.1
1[2.] 3.1 This act shall take effect immediately.
