5. a. Authority to Enter into Sale Agreements. A qualified municipality may sell to the corporation, and the corporation may purchase, for cash or other consideration and in one or more installments, all or a portion of the tax liens pursuant to the terms of one or more sale agreements. Any sale agreement shall provide, among other matters, the purchase price payable by the corporation to a qualified municipality for the tax liens, which amount may be more or less than the face amount of the tax liens purchased by the corporation, and may include the residual interests, if any. The sale agreement may require a qualified municipality to repurchase a tax lien, or to substitute another tax lien of equivalent value, under conditions to be specified in the sale agreement. The sale agreement may provide that a qualified municipality shall be obligated to sell to the corporation subsequent tax liens encumbering the property encumbered by the tax liens originally sold and remaining unpaid on such terms as the corporation deems desirable. Any sale shall be conducted pursuant to one or more sale agreements that may contain such terms and conditions deemed appropriate by a qualified municipality to carry out and effectuate the purposes of this section, including, without limitation, covenants binding the qualified municipality in favor of the corporation and its assignees, including, without limitation, the owners of its securities and benefitted parties; a provision authorizing inclusion of the State‘s pledge and agreement, as set forth in section 10 of this act, in any agreement with owners of the securities or any benefitted parties; and covenants with respect to the application and use of the proceeds of the sale of the qualified municipality’s tax liens to preserve the tax exemption of the interest on any securities, if issued as tax exempt. A qualified municipality in any sale agreement may agree to, and the corporation may provide for, the assignment of the corporation’s right, title and interest under the sale agreement for the benefit and security of the owners of securities and benefitted parties. The residual interest shall be uncertificated.

Notwithstanding that the corporation is hereby constituted an instrumentality of the State, all of the residual interests arising upon the transfer of a qualified municipality’s tax liens to the corporation shall be the property of and vest in such qualified municipality and all of the economic avails and benefits of such residual interests, including, but not limited to, the income attributable to and accruing with respect to such interests from time to time, shall accrue to and inure to the benefit of such qualified municipality.

b. True Sale. Any sale of tax liens to the corporation pursuant to a sale agreement shall constitute a true sale and absolute transfer of the property so transferred and not a pledge or a grant of a security interest for any borrowing. The characterization of a sale as an absolute transfer by the participants shall not be negated or adversely affected by the fact that only a portion of a qualified municipality’s tax liens is transferred, nor by the acquisition or retention by a qualified municipality of a residual interest, nor by the characterization of the corporation or its obligations for purposes of accounting, taxation or securities regulation, nor by any actual pledge, assignment or grant of a security interest in the tax liens and any proceeds of the tax liens, nor by any other factor whatsoever.

c. Qualified Municipality to Notify Collector. On and after the effective date of each sale of tax liens, a qualified municipality shall have no right, title or interest in or to the tax liens sold, and the tax liens so sold shall be property of the corporation and not of the qualified municipality, and shall be owned and held by the corporation and not the qualified municipality. On or before the effective date of any sale, the qualified municipality shall notify the collector that the tax liens have been sold to the corporation and irrevocably instruct the collector that, subsequent to the effective date of the sale, it shall pay over to the corporation or its designee within two days of its receipt any payments made on the transferred tax liens for the benefit of the owners of the securities and benefitted parties.

d. No Right to Cancel, Reduce or Compromise. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a qualified municipality shall not have any right to cancel, reduce or compromise any taxes, penalties or interest secured by a tax lien sold pursuant to this act or extend the time for payment thereof. A qualified municipality may not waive any penalties and interest on a tax lien that has been sold pursuant to this act.

e. Sale by Assignment. A qualified municipality’s sale of tax liens to the corporation shall be made by assignment. The certificates of sale may be assigned separately or in bulk with other such certificates. Upon such assignment, the qualified municipality shall promptly deliver such certificates to the corporation or its designee.

f. Recording. Any and all further or additional assignments of the tax sale certificates shall promptly be recorded in the office of the county clerk or the register of deeds and mortgages, as the case may be, of the county where the real property is located, and a photocopy of the recorded assignment shall be served upon the collector by certified mail, return receipt requested. When assignments have not been recorded and served upon the collector, the collector shall be held harmless for the payment of any redemption amounts to the holder of the certificate of sale as appears on the records of the collector. All assignments must be submitted to the office of the county clerk or register of deeds and mortgages for recording within 90 days of the sale by assignment.

g. Presumptive Evidence. The certificate of sale shall be presumptive evidence in all courts in all proceedings by and against the corporation of the truth of the statements therein, of the title of the corporation in the transferred tax liens, and the regularity and validity of all proceedings had in reference to the sale. After six months from the recording of the certificate of sale, no evidence shall be admitted in any court to rebut the presumption that the lien purported to be transferred by the certificate of sale is a valid and enforceable lien, unless the corporation shall have procured it by fraud, or had previous knowledge that it was fraudulently made or procured.

h. Destruction or Loss of a Certificate. In case of the destruction or loss of a certificate of sale issued by a qualified municipality, the corporation shall present an affidavit of destroyed or lost certificate to the collector, and the collector shall then issue and execute a new certificate of sale in place of the one destroyed or lost. There shall appear on the new certificate a statement that it is a duplicate of the original certificate of sale that was destroyed or lost, the date of the original certificate, the date of the tax sale of the original certificate, the date the original certificate was issued and the name and title of the officer who issued the original certificate.

i. Duplicate Certificate and Time Limit to Redeem. The time limit within which the right to redeem from any tax sale in which a duplicate certificate has been issued shall be the same as though the original certificate had not been destroyed or lost.

j. Amount Required for Redemption. Any person having a legal and beneficial interest in the property affected by a certificate of sale acquired by the corporation may satisfy the outstanding lien on the property at any time upon payment to the collector of all sums due with respect to such certificate and for subsequent taxes, municipal liens and charges, and interest and costs thereon, together with interest on the amounts so paid at the rate or rates chargeable by the qualified municipality.

k. Cancellation of Certificate Upon Redemption. Upon satisfaction of a tax lien, the redeeming party shall be entitled to have, upon demand, the certificate of sale, duly receipted for cancellation, or a certificate of redemption thereof, duly executed, stating that said certificate of sale may be canceled of record in the manner prescribed by law.

l. Duties Upon Redemption. The collector, on receiving payment as set forth in subsection j. of this section from a redeeming party, shall confirm with the corporation that such payment constitutes a payment in full. Upon such confirmation, the collector shall execute and deliver to the redeeming party a certificate of redemption which may be recorded with the county clerk or register of deeds and mortgages, as appropriate. The county clerk or register of deeds and mortgages, as appropriate, shall, on request, note on the record of the original certificate of sale a reference to the record of the certificate of redemption, and shall be entitled to the same fees as provided for the cancellation of a mortgage, or, at the option of the redeeming party, the collector shall request the corporation to deliver to it the certificate of sale and in turn, the collector shall deliver to the redeeming party the certificate of sale receipted for cancellation by endorsement in the same manner required by the law of the State to satisfy or cancel a mortgage, whereupon the record of the certificate of sale shall be canceled by the county clerk or register of deeds and mortgages in the same manner and for the same fees as in the case of a mortgage.

m. Installment Agreements. If the corporation holds a certificate of sale, it shall be entitled in its own name or in the name of its duly authorized representative to enter into installment agreements with the related taxpayers as if it were a municipality acting pursuant to Title 54 of the Revised Statutes and on such terms as the corporation deems desirable; provided, however, that the payment of the total sum due the corporation on any one parcel shall be made in substantially equal monthly installments, over a period not exceeding five years.

n. Filing of Installment Agreements. The installment agreement must be in writing and filed with the collector where the property is located. Upon due execution of the installment agreement the corporation shall forward a true copy of the agreement to the collector’s office.

o. Foreclosure. When the corporation is the purchaser or assignee of a certificate of sale, the corporation, or its assignee or transferee, may, in its own name or in the name of its duly authorized representative, at any time after the expiration of the term of six months from the issuance of the certificate of sale, institute a procedure to foreclose the right of redemption. The corporation shall be entitled to foreclose the tax lien or liens evidenced thereby in the manner provided by the law for the foreclosure of tax liens as if it were a municipality. In connection with the enforcement of a tax lien, all statutory references to a municipality acting pursuant to the provisions of Title 54 of the Revised Statutes shall be deemed to refer to the corporation, and all references to actions to be taken by an officer of the municipality shall be deemed to refer to an appropriate officer or duly authorized representative of the corporation.

p. Jurisdiction of Court. The Superior Court, in a procedure to foreclose the right of redemption, may give full and complete relief under this act, in accordance with other statutory authority of the court, to bar the right of redemption and to foreclose all prior or subsequent alienations and descents of the lands and encumbrances thereon, except subsequent municipal liens, and to adjudge an absolute and indefeasible estate of inheritance in fee simple, to be vested in the purchaser or assignee. The judgment shall be final upon the defendants, their heirs, devisees and personal representatives, and any of their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators, grantees, assigns or successors in right, title or interest and no application shall be entertained to reopen the judgment after the date thereof, and then only upon the grounds of lack of jurisdiction or fraud in the conduct of the suit. The judgment and recording thereof shall not be deemed a sale, transfer, or conveyance of title or interest to the subject property under the provisions of the “Uniform Voidable Transactions Act,” R.S.25:2-20 et seq.

In the event that any federal statute or regulation requires a judicial sale of the property in order to debar and foreclose a mortgage interest or any other lien held by the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof, then the tax lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as a mortgage, and the final judgment shall provide for the issuance of a writ of execution to the sheriff of the county wherein the property is situated and the holding of a judicial sale as in the manner of the foreclosure of a mortgage.

q. Conflict. In connection with the foreclosure of the right of redemption, in the event of any conflict between this act and any other law relating to the foreclosure of the right of redemption, this act shall be given precedence over the other law or laws.

r. Recovery of Fees and Expenses. To the extent permitted by law, in connection with the foreclosure of tax liens, the corporation or its designee shall have the right to recover attorneys’ fees and disbursements incurred relating to the foreclosure at the time such fees and disbursements are incurred, together with the expenses of the sale.

s. Evidence of Payments of Subsequent Tax Liens at Foreclosure. Notwithstanding R.S.54:5-99, in connection with the foreclosure of tax liens, the corporation or its designee shall produce evidence that all subsequent tax liens on the related land have been paid in full at the time a foreclosure judgment shall be entered. The evidence shall not be required to be produced at the commencement of a foreclosure procedure.

L.2003, c.120, s.5; amended 2021, c.92, s.22.