Chapter 91, codified as N.J.S.A. 54:4-34, is a sword used by tax assessors to gather information about income producing properties to help in the valuation process.  Should you receive a Chapter 91 request (click here or here to view a sample Chapter 91 request) for information from a tax assessor, respond truthfully and immediately.  Failure to provide a truthful response within 45 days may bar your ability to file a tax appeal of your assessment.

Chapter 91 provides:

Every owner of real property of the taxing district shall, on written request of the assessor, made by certified mail, render a full and true account of his name and real property and the income therefrom, in the case of income-producing property, and produce his title papers, and he may be examined on oath by the assessor, and if he shall fail or refuse to respond to the written request of the assessor within 45 days of such request, or to testify on oath when required, or shall render a false or fraudulent account, the assessor shall value his property at such amount as he may, from any information in his possession or available to him, reasonable determine to be the full and fair value thereof.  No appeal shall be heard from the assessor’s valuation and assessment with respect to income-producing property where the owner has failed or refused to respond to such written request for information within 45 days of such request or to testify on oath when required, or shall have rendered a false or fraudulent account.  The county board of taxation may impose such terms and conditions for furnishing the requested information where it appears that the owner, for good cause shown, could not furnish the information within the required period of time.  In making such written request for information pursuant to this section the assessor shall enclose therewith a copy of this section. [emphasis added]

Courts have strictly interpreted this provision and will bar any appeal where an owner has failed to comply with a properly issued Chapter 91 request.  Therefore, owners of income-producing properties should heed warning and immediately respond to Chapter 91 requests to preserve their ability to file an appeal of a tax assessment.

Hope is Not Lost if you Failed to Comply with a Chapter 91 Request

While courts strictly construe Chapter 91 and bar appeals where an owner has failed to comply with a Chapter 91 request, they will similarly strictly construe the requirements placed upon the tax assessor.  Where a tax assessor has failed to properly prepare and serve a Chapter 91 request, an owner might still be permitted to file an appeal.  For instance, a Chapter 91 request must be made in writing and sent via certified mail.  Moreover, a copy of the statute must be included with the request.  In certain circumstances, a township may use a revaluation company to help perform a township wide revaluation.  In such instances, if the revaluation company sent the Chapter 91 request, it may be invalid.  Finally, the request must be sent in a timely manner to permit the assessor the ability to use the information.  In other words, the assessor cannot send out a Chapter 91 request less than 45 days before he needs to make a decision as to your assessment. 

Even where the tax assessor complied with the requirements of Chapter 91, you may still contest the assessment through a reasonableness hearing.  The New Jersey Supreme Court discussed the limited nature of a reasonableness hearing in Ocean Pines Ltd. V. Point Pleasant Bor., 112 N.J. 1 (1988) indicating “[t]he inquiry will focus solely on whether the valuation could reasonably have been arrived at in light of the data available to the assessor at the time of the valuation.”  Information a property owner withheld from the tax assessor by not responding to the Chapter 91 request cannot be presented to the court.  However, you may inquire as to “(1) the reasonableness of the underlying data used by the assessor, and (2) the reasonableness of the methodology used by the assessor in arriving at the valuation.”  While a property owner will at minimum be permitted a reasonableness hearing, such a hearing is limited in nature and will not protect the rights of a property owner as sufficiently as a complete tax appeal. 

Do Homeowners Need to Respond to Chapter 91 Requests?

Until recently this was a complicated answer that required a detailed recitation of case law.  However, the Appellate Division in H.J. Bailey Company v. Neptune Township, 399, N.J. Super. 381 (App. Div. 2008) has put this issue to rest holding that Chapter 91 requests do not apply to non-income producing properties.  Therefore, the simple answer is that homeowners who occupy property and do not derive an income from the property are not required to respond to Chapter 91 requests.  However, if you derive any income from a property you should respond to a Chapter 91 request to preserve your right to appeal an assessment.  Click here to review an updated article on this subject.

A Purchaser is Bound by a Seller’s Failure to Respond to a Chapter 91 Request

Purchasers of income-producing property should be forewarned that they will be barred from appealing an assessment where the seller failed to respond to a Chapter 91 request.  In ADP of New Jersey, Inc. v. Parsippany-Troy Hills Tp., 14 N.J. Tax 372 (1994), a seller received a Chapter 91 request and failed to respond, the purchaser then attempted to appeal the property tax assessment.  The Court ruled that the purchaser was bound by the seller’s inaction and that the purchaser should have protected his rights by inquiry of the seller as to the status of the tax assessment.  Therefore, purchasers of an income-producing property should obtain written representations that the seller has not received and/or failed to respond to a Chapter 91 request.