Blog
Hladik, Onorato & Federman, LLP New Jersey Update
Hladik, Onorato & Federman, LLP, is operating and continues to dedicate its staff and technological resources to ensure minimal impact on delivery of services to its clients. In addition, we want to share with our clients and colleagues the most recent COVID-19 response measures taken by the executive, legislative and judicial branches in New Jersey as of April 4, 2020. Each week this situation continues, we have seen and will see constantly pivoting policy and legal changes that impact our clients and other default law firms.
Hladik, Onorato & Federman, LLP, is operating and continues to dedicate its staff and technological resources to ensure minimal impact on delivery of services to its clients. In addition, we want to share with our clients and colleagues the most recent COVID-19 response measures taken by the executive, legislative and judicial branches in New Jersey as of April 4, 2020. Each week this situation continues, we have seen and will see constantly pivoting policy and legal changes that impact our clients and other default law firms.
New Jersey has been one of the hardest hit jurisdictions by COVID-19 with approximately 34,124 confirmed cases and 846 deaths at the time of this writing. Coupled with a foreclosure rate (1 in every 1,457 housing units in February 2020) ranked highest in the nation, there has been an increased scrutiny and focus on protecting the state's vulnerable citizens.
State Courts:
Most New Jersey county courts (vicinages) are closed to the public. The most up to date information on court closures can be found here.
All county sheriff's offices are closed entirely or operating on a reduced staff and schedule. Many of those offices have indefinitely postponed sales that were scheduled in March and April. Very few are accepting new writs of execution to schedule future sales.
On March 17, 2020, the Supreme Court of New Jersey entered an Order postponing all non-emergent in-person court proceedings. Discovery deadlines were relaxed and extended. Lastly, the computation of time for all periods under the rules, including statutes of limitation, were tolled from March 16 to March 27.
On March 19, 2020, the legislature passed Assembly Bill 3859 and Senate Bill 2276 granting a governor the authority during a declared state of emergency to place a moratorium on removing individuals from residential property. Contemporaneously, Governor Murphy signed the bills into law and issued Executive Order 106, which allows eviction and foreclosure cases to be initiated and continued, but prohibits sheriffs, court officers or other agents from evicting tenants or removing individuals post-foreclosure.
On March 21, 2020, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 107 directing all residents to stay home and forcing all non-essential businesses, including law firms, to accommodate their employees for telework or work-from-home.
On March 27, 2020, the Supreme Court of New Jersey issued an Omnibus Order amending and extending the guidance provided in its March 17, 2020 Order. Specifically, where practicable, all hearing, conference and arguments will be conducted by video or phone conference. Furthermore, the Office of Foreclosure will not review or recommend motions or judgments received on or after March 1, 2020 pending further court order.
On March 29, 2020, Governor Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance announced a commitment from over 40 lenders, credit unions and servicers to provide additional financial relief to consumers and homeowners in New Jersey. Although not mandatory, the relief includes a 90-day grace on mortgage payments, waiver of fees or charges, no new foreclosures or evictions for 60 days, and no negative credit reporting for missed or late payments. A list of the participating lenders can be found here.
Federal Courts:
The Martin Luther King and Frank R. Lautenberg Courthouses in Newark are closed until April 6. We anticipate orders extending the closures of these courthouses to a future date.
District Court of New Jersey—The Court largely closed its doors to the public on March 16. All jury selections scheduled to begin before April 30 are postponed until further order of court. Video and phone conferencing are encouraged but this is at the discretion of the judge.
United States Bankruptcy Court-District of New Jersey—All trials scheduled to occur prior to April 16 are postponed until further order of the court. All motions and contested matters with be decided on the papers, but upon request a judge may grant telephonic argument. Any deadlines to object to discharge or to the discharge ability of a debt are extended 30 days if due before April 16.
We intend to continually update this summary as new information becomes available to us.
For more information, please contact:
Bradley J. Osborne, Esquire at 267-642-3246 or bosborne@hoflawgroup.com
Stephen M. Hladik, Esquire at 267-662-9022 or shladik@hoflawgroup.com
Thomas M. Federman, Esquire at 215-680-4298 or tfederman@hoflawgroup.com