Fulton Bank, Na v. Apple Mountain Recreation Inc.

CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedDecember 31, 2025
DocketA-1660-24
StatusUnpublished

This text of Fulton Bank, Na v. Apple Mountain Recreation Inc. (Fulton Bank, Na v. Apple Mountain Recreation Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fulton Bank, Na v. Apple Mountain Recreation Inc., (N.J. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited . R. 1:36-3.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-1660-24

FULTON BANK, NA,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

APPLE MOUNTAIN RECREATION INC., a/k/a APPLE MOUNTAIN RECREATION INCORPORATED, JANET M. KISZONAK, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS EXECUTRIX OF THE ESTATE OF ANDREW T. KISZONAK, NORTHFIELD BANK, STATE OF NEW JERSEY, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendants-Respondents. _____________________________

DEANE D. OLIVER,

Appellant. _____________________________

Argued October 22, 2025 – Decided December 31, 2025

Before Judges Paganelli and Vanek. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Warren County, Docket No. F-001131-21.

Patrick J. Spina (Patrick J. Spina, PC) argued the cause for appellant.

Daniel P. Muklewicz argued the cause for respondent Fulton Bank, NA (Eisenberg, Gold & Agrawal, PC, attorneys; Daniel P. Muklewicz, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Deane D. Oliver appeals from the trial court's January 13, 2025 order

denying his post-judgment motion to intervene and request for relief from a trial

court order entered in September 2021. Because we conclude the trial court

correctly applied the court rules, we affirm.

We glean the facts from the record. On March 3, 2011, Fulton Bank, NA's

predecessor received a mortgage from Apple Mountain Recreation, Inc. (Apple)

on its property located in the Township of White. On December 23, 2019, Oliver

acquired a tax sale certificate from the Township, purportedly as a favor to his

friend and owner of the property, Andrew T. Kiszonak. Oliver did not record

the tax sale certificate.

On March 3, 2021, Fulton Bank filed a foreclosure complaint against the

mortgaged property. Oliver was not named in the complaint. Fulton Bank

obtained a final judgment on July 14, 2021. The judgment directed the Sheriff

A-1660-24 2 of Warren County to sell the property and pay proceeds to Fulton Bank to satisfy

the judgment. In addition, the Sheriff was to pay surplus funds—funds received

in excess of Fulton Bank's judgment amount—into court.

On July 20, 2021, counsel for Fulton Bank "contacted the . . . Township

. . . to confirm that there were no outstanding taxes or liens on the [property]

. . . prior to" the sheriff's sale. The Township advised counsel of Oliver's

"outstanding tax sale certificate."

On August 20, 2021, Fulton Bank filed a motion for an order permitting

the property to be sold at the sheriff's sale "[f]ree and [c]lear of [Oliver's]

[u]nrecorded [t]ax [s]ale [c]ertificate." Oliver admitted he was served with the

motion, nevertheless he failed to respond. In his subsequent motion to intervene,

Oliver certified that he "did not, at that time, have money to retain an attorney,

but instead . . . read the materials that were served upon [him], which seemed to

indicate that [he] was somehow remiss by not 'filing' [his] 2019 [t]ax [s]ale

[c]ertificate." Further, he "was not aware that [he] had to do any such thing"

because he "understood, generally, that real estate taxes were a lien on property,

even ahead of an existing mortgage." Oliver recorded the tax sale certificate

with the County Clerk on August 31, 2021. He "did not think [he] needed to do

anything else."

A-1660-24 3 On September 24, 2021, the trial court granted Fulton Bank's motion "to

. . . sell the property free and clear of [Oliver's] unrecorded tax sale certificate."

The order stated defendants had not filed opposition and the "motion was

unopposed." The judge stated Oliver had not recorded his tax sale certificate

within three months of the date of sale and, therefore, under N.J.S.A. 54:5 -51,

it was "void as against [Fulton Bank]'s prior recorded mortgage" and "also void

as against any subsequent purchaser, such as a purchaser at sheriff's sale."

In his motion to intervene, Oliver certified that in late September or early

October 2021, he received an "additional package" from Fulton Bank's attorney,

which included a copy of the September 24, 2021 order. Oliver stated that he

"did not understand the decision, nor did [he] have funds available at that time

to hire an attorney to review the decision." Oliver explained that he "did not

comprehend that the [c]ourt's decision" permitted the sale of the property

without him being reimbursed for the payment of taxes.

On January 6, 2023, the trial court ordered surplus funds to be paid to

Apple and the United States of America.

Although unrelated to this appeal, on March 29, 2023, PC6REO, LLC

filed a motion to intervene, set aside the sheriff's sale, reform the sheriff's deed,

and vacate the September 2021 order. The motion was served on Oliver. In

A-1660-24 4 Oliver's certification supporting his motion to intervene, he stated it was after

receipt of PC6REO's motion that he "began to think about what happened to

[him] and all the money that [he] paid in real estate taxes." He stated he read

PC6REO's motion papers which "appeared to argue that the [c]ourt's decision to

allow Fulton Bank to sell the . . . [p]roperty and not reimburse [him] for real

estate taxes paid was somehow incorrect." Further, he asserted "that the money

[he] paid for real estate taxes should have been paid to [him] or [there] should

have continued to be a lien on the . . . [p]roperty."

Oliver certified that in May 2024, "[t]hrough the help of family, [he] was

. . . able to raise sufficient mon[ey] to retain [c]ounsel." On November 15, 2024,

Oliver filed a motion to intervene and for relief from the September 2021 order.

The trial court issued a preliminary decision on December 18, 2024, and

thereafter heard the parties' oral arguments on January 6, 2025. The court denied

Oliver's motion to intervene. In a five-page written statement of reasons

accompanying the January 13, 2025 order, the trial court stated, "Oliver's ability

to intervene rest[ed] on whether he c[ould] establish a valid interest in the

[p]roperty that would warrant post-judgment intervention."

The trial court found Oliver had not recorded the tax sale certificate for

"more than a year[-]and[-]a[-]half" after acquiring it and Fulton Bank's

A-1660-24 5 "mortgage interest was recorded . . . approximately a decade before . . . Oliver

even acquired the tax sale certificate." The trial court cited N.J.S.A. 54:5-51,

providing that "[w]hen the certificate of sale is not made to the municipality, it

shall, unless so recorded within three months of the date of sale, be void as

against a bona fide purchaser, lessee or mortgagee whose deed, lease or

mortgage is recorded before the recording of the certificate." The trial court

determined Oliver's "claim [could not] be recognized under the clear language"

of the statute.

The trial court considered Oliver's argument that N.J.S.A. 54:5-51 was not

applicable because Fulton Bank was "not a bona fide mortgagee since the bank's

mortgage [wa]s earlier-in-time than [his] tax certificate." The court stated "a

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