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'Sven Pfahlert' <sven.pfahlert@judiciary.state.nj.us>; 'Sven Pfahlert'
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Thomas.Laconte@njcourts.gov; paul.innes@njcourts.gov
December 27, 2018
RE:
MAJOR SCANDAL REGARDING THE VIOLATION OF THE STATE’S TENANCY LAWS BY THE CLERK
OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY AND THE OFFICE OF FORECLOSURE.
DID
SVEN PFAHLERT COLLUDE WITH CREDITOR LAWYERS TO VIOLATE PEOPLE’S POSSESSORY
RIGHTS?
Dear Legislators and Justices:
It has been reported in the media (see
excerpts below) that the Office of Foreclosure has either negligently or
intentionally violated a number of state tenancy laws by:
1.
Entering ex-parte writs of possession the
same day as a judgment for possession in violation of N.J.S.A. 2A:18-57;
2.
Entering ex parte writs of possession
without the requisite notice for demand to quit in violation of 2A:18-61.2
and/or NJSA 2A:18-53 (addressing the removal of tenant at sufferance)
3.
Entering an ex-parte judgment for
possession without receiving a proof of notice to quit that is prerequisite to
judgment (See N.J.S.A. 2A:18-56);
4.
Accepting as true the
self-certifications of bank attorneys that a residential property occupier had
no possessory rights when according to state case law these people are
tenant-at-sufferance, protected by the Summary Dispossess Act, N.J.S. 2A:18-53
(See the definition of tenant found in NJSA 46A:14-1, stating that a
tenant-at-sufferance is included in the definition of a tenant)
THE
NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT HAS RULED THAT EX-PARTE JUDGMENTS OF POSSESSION ISSUED
WITHOUT A STATE STATUTE-REQUIRED DEMAND TO QUIT AND NOTICE OF AN EVICTION
HEARING ARE ILLEGAL AND VOID. EVEN IF THE JUDGMENT HAD BEEN ENTERED LAWFULLY (IT WAS
NOT), THE CLERK HAD NO JURISDICTION TO ISSUE THE WARRANT OF REMOVAL THE SAME
DAY THE JUDGMENT WAS ENTERED.
On June
15 the Housing Authority's counsel wrote to the court clerk, ex parte, and
enclosed an affidavit which stated that the tenants had failed and neglected to
comply with the terms of the settlement. He requested that a judgment for
possession be entered and a warrant of removal issued. On June 16, without
notice to the tenants, a judgment for possession was entered and that same day
a warrant of removal issued.
It is
clear that the judgment for possession entered on June 16 was invalid. The
court's order dated April 28 which memorialized the terms of the settlement did
not fix a time within which the back rent had to be paid. Obviously a
reasonable time was intended. However, the Housing Authority, although it
concluded that there had been a failure to comply with the terms of the
settlement, should not have applied ex parte for entry of a judgment for
possession on that ground, and the clerk should not have entered judgment
without giving the tenants an opportunity to be heard. R. 6:6-3(b). Even if the
judgment had been entered lawfully (we hold it was not), the clerk had no *316
jurisdiction to issue the warrant of removal the same day the judgment was
entered. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-57 provides that in summary dispossess proceedings
"[n]o warrant of removal shall issue until the expiration of 3 days after
entry of judgment for possession."
Since the June 16 judgment was illegal and void, the tenants'
motion to vacate that judgment and quash the warrant of removal, heard on
October 6, should have been granted on jurisdictional grounds. Mrs. Hayward's
appeal from that ruling was timely and should not have been dismissed by the
Appellate Division.
*317 Accordingly, we set aside the dismissal, reinstate the appeal
and, having considered the merits, reverse the October 6 ruling of the trial
court and direct that court to vacate the judgment for possession and warrant
of removal, and dismiss the complaint.
HOUSING
AUTHORITY OF CITY OF WILDWOOD v. Hayward, et al., 406
A.2d 1318, 81 N.J. 311 (1979)
It is apparent that lawyers for the
banks and other creditors have been colluding with the office of foreclosure
lawyers to violate the tenancy laws of the state. THIS IS A MAJOR SCANDAL
AND/OR CORRUPTION IN THE STATE'S JUDICIARY BRANCH.
The State’s own law revision
commission states the following:
Since enactment of the Anti-Eviction
Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 et seq., the Summary Dispossess Act has been
understood to cover the eviction of nonresidential tenants and residential
tenants not covered by the Anti-Eviction Act. Source: STATE OF NEW
JERSEY, NEW JERSEY LAW REVISION COMMISSION, Final Report Relating to Landlord
and Tenant Law, February 10, 2012.
This tenancy at sufferance is included
in the definition of tenant in the New Jersey statutes: "Tenant"
includes, but is not limited to, a lessee or tenant at will or at sufferance or
for any duration, or any subtenants, assigns, or legal representatives of the
lessee or tenant. Title 46A – Landlord and tenant law. Article 5, eviction,
chapter 14, eviction generally. 46A:14-1: Tenant, landlord, residential
rental premises; what is included.
Here is some of the case law of New
Jersey:
Under New Jersey law, "[a]
purchaser at a mortgage foreclosure sale obtains the legal right to possession
of land purchased as soon as he obtains a deed from the selling officer."
30 New Jersey Practice, Law of Mortgages § 373. The mortgagor's continued
possession of the property after such time is that of a tenant at sufferance.
See Caruso v. Hunt, 69 N.J.Super. 447, 452, 174 A.2d 381 (Ch.Div. 1961)
(quoting 2 C.J.S. Adverse Possession § 105, page 659) ("The owner's
continued possession after sale of the property at execution, judicial, or like
sale is that of a tenant at sufferance of the purchaser”). In Re St. Clair, 251
B.R. 660 (D.N.J. 2000). We have found that a tenant at sufferance is
"'one who comes into possession of land by lawful title, usually by virtue
of a lease for a definite period, and after the expiration of the period of the
lease holds over without any fresh leave from the owner.'" Xerox Corp. v.
Listmark Computer Sys., 142 N.J. Super. 232, 240 (App. Div. 1976) (citing
Standard Realty Co. v. Gates, 99 N.J. Eq. 271, 275 (Ch. 1926)). WA GOLF COMPANY,
LLC v. ARMORED, INC, Appellate Division, August 6, 2014.
To remove a tenant at sufferance, the
statutory procedures provided under the Summary Dispossess Act, N.J.S. 2A:18-53
et seq. must be followed. However, the lawyers for the creditors failed
to follow these procedures and therefore, the tenants-at-sufferance due process
rights established by the above state laws were violated.
The Office of Foreclosure and the
Clerk have been refusing to respond; that is why we are asking for your
intervention and investigation into these illegalities.
The Summary Dispossess Act, N.J.S.
2A:18-53 et seq. requires proof of notice to quit prior to entering a judgment
for possession.
2A:18-56. Proof of notice to quit
prerequisite to judgment
No judgment for possession in cases
specified in paragraph "a." of section 2A:18-53 of this Title shall
be ordered unless:
a.
The
tenancy, if a tenancy at will or from year to year, has been terminated by the
giving of 3 months' notice to quit, which notice shall be deemed to be
sufficient; or
b.
The
tenancy, if a tenancy from month to month, has been terminated by the giving of
1 month's notice to quit, which notice shall be deemed to be sufficient; or
c.
The
tenancy, if for a term other than at will, from year to year, or from month to
month, has been terminated by the giving of one term's notice to quit, which
notice shall be deemed to be sufficient; and
d.
It
shall be shown to the satisfaction of the court by due proof that the notice
herein required has been given.
In addition to the New Jersey, we also
cite the law of the State of Virginia. All other states have identical
procedures.
Evictions and Unlawful Detainers in VA
House Bill 311 codifies certain roles
and procedures during unlawful detainer matters:
1.
A
former owner of a single-family residential dwelling unit who remains in the
property after foreclosure is now defined as a tenant at sufferance.
2.
A
successor owner has the right to file an unlawful detainer action three days
after giving the tenant written termination notice.
The Virginia law is identical to the
one New Jersey has. Almost every other state has similar procedures. The
Clerk and the Office of Foreclosure have been negligently or intentionally
colluding with the lawyers for the creditors to violate the due process rights
of tenants - and as is typical, the New Jersey Supreme Court is asleep at the
wheel.
ALERT REGARDING MR. PFAHLERT
CONFLICT OF INTEREST OF SVEN PFAHLERT
IN ISSUING OPINIONS ON FORECLOSURE MATTERS
What
your Office of Foreclosure did was to then believe Mr. Sven Pfahlert’s (a
former private law firm employee with Honig & Greenberg, L.L.C. – these are
the people who have been attacking the homeowners and now he works for the
State of New Jersey- THIS IS A HUGE RED FLAG) incorrect and illegal advice and
enter an ex-parte judgment for possession without the prerequisite
notices. You then entered the very same day an ex-parte writ for
possession again in violation of the state statutes requiring notice to quit or
vacate. You also violated state law that says you cannot enter a writ the
same day you entered a judgment. To make matters worse, the judgment was
entered by judges in Mercer County who had neither personal nor subject matter
jurisdiction over the homeowner or the property.
These deceptive and unlawful practices by these convicted
Anti-Trust Conspirators have been criticized by the state of New Jersey and the
Public Advocate Division. See for
example the following excerpt from the “Toolkit for Tenants Living in
Foreclosed Properties”, published by the Department of the Public Advocate,
Trenton, NJ 08625, dated March 2010:
Courts and
Sheriffs. In addition to owners
and those who work for them, the courts and sheriff officers sometimes
mistakenly target protected tenants during the foreclosure process. The writs
of execution and final foreclosure judgments are drafted by the attorneys for
the lenders. The attorneys sometimes use language in court papers that cause
problems because it seems to cover tenants (for example, “and any and all
persons occupying said premises”). Other times attorneys specifically name
tenants and certify (swear to the court) that those tenants are not covered by
the Anti-Eviction Act. This is
especially problematic because tenants often do not have the opportunity to
demonstrate that they are in fact legitimate tenants until after the removal
has already been ordered by the court and scheduled by the sheriff. If a court
order specifically names a tenant to be removed, the sheriff must evict that
person. Sometimes, however, sheriffs read the language in the order and believe
that they must evict everyone. Also, some notices that sheriffs create and post
on property include language, such as “occupants” instead of “owners,” that
appears to include tenants. The
Attorney General distributed a memo to sheriffs regarding the rights of tenants
living in foreclosed properties.
I LOOK FORWARD HEARING FROM YOU
REGARDING THESE STATE LAW VIOLATIONS AND THE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST REGARDING
MR. PFAHLERT
I
hereby certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing statements made by
me are true and correct. I am aware that if any of the foregoing
statements made by me are willfully false, I am subject to punishment. NJ Court
Rule R. 1:4-4(b); 28 U.S.C. §1746.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Mark
Kaplan, Esq.