Along with associations’ ability to sell units by foreclosing on liens, they can also sell units to satisfy money judgments – if they can prove the owner has no other personal assets.  A New Jersey court rule and statute both permit a judgment creditor to levy upon a debtor’s real property if the creditor cannot find assets to satisfy the judgment elsewhere.  In other words, if the association sends an information subpoena to the debtor, performs asset searches and sends the Sheriff to the debtor’s property to inventory personal property, and there are no assets found that can satisfy the judgment, the court rules and statute allow the association to levy the debtor’s real property and sell it at Sheriff’s sale. At Sheriff’s sale, either a third party will purchase the property or ownership will revert back to the association and the association can rent the property.

This process was recently confirmed by the Appellate Division.  On behalf of an association, this firm filed a motion to permit sale since no personal assets could be found.  The motion judge denied the motion because there was an outstanding mortgage on the property and the judge felt that it would not be fair for the association to sell or rent the property and collect its judgment while the mortgagee was foreclosing.  This firm appealed the motion judge’s decision and argued the matter before the Appellate Division.  The Appellate Division reversed the motion judge’s decision in the unpublished opinion, Birch Glen Condominium Association, Inc. v. Boahene.  We successfully argued that the outstanding mortgage on the property is irrelevant to the association’s motion.  The Appellate Division agreed with this firm’s position that the motion judge erred by failing to base his decision on whether the association had taken adequate steps to try to satisfy the judgment out of personal property.  The case was remanded back to the motion judge with instructions that the judge determine whether the association made reasonable efforts to located the defendants’ assets to satisfy its judgment.