[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Montville by Ord. No. 1308 as Ch. 5.24 of the 1998 Code. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 189.
No insurer issuing fire insurance policies in
this state shall pay any claims for fire damages in excess of $2,500
on any real property located within the Township of Montville unless
or until the insured person submits an official certificate of search
for municipal liens, certifying that all taxes, assessments or other
municipal liens or charges levied and assessed and due and payable
against said property have been paid. Any request pursuant to this
section for an official certificate of search for municipal liens
shall specify that the search concerns fire-damaged property.
If said municipal search shall reveal the presence
of any taxes, assessments or other municipal liens or charges due
and payable, then such amounts shall be paid by either the owner of
such real property or by the insurance company prior to the payment
of any claims for fire damages in excess of $2,500 on such real property
located within the Township. Except as provided herein, an insurance
company is hereby authorized and required, prior to the payment of
any claims for fire damages in excess of $2,500, to pay to the Township
the amount of the liens appearing on the official certificate (tax
search) and such other recorded liens or related charges as may be
certified to the insurance company.
An insurance company receiving a certified copy
of a resolution of consent from the governing body of the Township
of Montville is hereby authorized to make full payment of the claim
to the insured person.
If an appeal is taken on the amount of any lien
or charge, other than an appeal on the assessed violation of real
property pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:3-21, the insurance company shall
issue a draft payable to the court of record, to be held by the court
in an interest-bearing escrow account in a banking institution or
savings and loan association in this state, in an amount totaling
75% of the full amount of the lien or charge being contested, but
not to exceed the proceeds payable under its insurance policy, and
the insurance company shall issue a draft payable to the Township
for the remaining 25% of the lien or charge being contested, with
the full amount paid by the insurance company to the court and the
Township not to exceed the proceeds payable under its insurance policy
pending termination of all proceedings, at which time, such moneys
and all interest accruing thereon at a rate paid on interest-bearing
accounts in banking institutions or savings and loan associations
in this state shall be disbursed in accordance with final order or
judgment of the court.
A municipal claim made in accordance with the
provisions of this chapter shall be paramount to any other claims
on the proceeds of the fire insurance policy, except the claim of
the holder of a purchase money mortgage held as a first mortgage or
an institutional lender which is a holder of a mortgage on the fire-damaged
property, where the fire insurance policy at the time of the loss
listed the mortgagee as the holder of an insurable interest, in which
event, the claim of the mortgagee to the proceeds shall be paramount
to the municipal lien under this chapter only to the extent of the
amount due and payable to the mortgagee under the mortgage contract.
As used in this section, "institutional lender" means any bank, savings
bank, state or federal chartered savings and loan association or insurance
company.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
affect the authority of the Township to enforce a Township lien under
any other law of this state.
