FWDSL & ASSOCIATES, LP VS. RICHARD BEREZANSKY, ET AL.
A-5385-15T2
Plaintiff, a tax sale certificate holder, appealed an order which permitted a party to intervene in this foreclosure action and redeem based on its having obtained title pursuant to its profit-sharing agreement with the property owners. The intervenor agreed to pay the owners $10,000 for clear title and, by way of the profit-sharing agreement, promised to: pay all outstanding property taxes; satisfy a $70,000 judgment against one of the owners; allow the owners free use and occupancy until the property's eventual sale; and consented to a thirty-five/sixty-five split of the net proceeds, with the owners receiving the larger share. Plaintiff argued the consideration received by the owners was illusory or was only nominal because the profit-sharing agreement called for reimbursement to the intervenor of its payment of the taxes, of the $70,000 judgment, and of all repairs made to the premises. In affirming, the court held that the owners received more than nominal consideration – thereby satisfying N.J.S.A. 54:5-89.1's requirements – and rejected plaintiff's contention that Simon v. Cronecker, 189 N.J. 304 (2007) imposed a blanket prohibition on all profit-sharing agreements in this setting.
