Sudia Associates, L.L.C. v. City of New Brunswick Block 47, Lot 22.01, 001293-2017

Sudia Associates owns a 31-unit apartment (the Subject) converted and tenanted in 2014; the City sent Chapter 91 (N.J.S.A. 54:4-34) requests for income-and-expense (I&E) data for multiple years.
For tax year 2016, the City sent a certified Chapter 91 request (for 2015 I&E) on ~June 1, 2016; returned unclaimed June 23, 2016; assessor re-sent by first-class mail ~August 8, 2016.
Plaintiff’s office manager (bookkeeper) testified she received the August mailing, knew audited financials would not be ready by the 45-day deadline, and called the assessor’s office; a female staffer allegedly said a late submission was “no big deal.”
Manager prepared and mailed a signed Chapter 91 response dated October 31, 2016; the City says it never received a 2016 response and the revaluation firm confirmed it received 2015 but not 2016 I&E.
Court held an evidentiary hearing; it found the manager credible that she timely contacted the assessor’s office and had a plausible reason for delay, and gave plaintiff the benefit of the doubt on whether the October mailing was lost.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether plaintiff made a sufficient "response" within 45 days to the Chapter 91 request	Manager promptly contacted assessor’s office and explained I&E unavailable until audited returns; thus she reasonably notified assessor before the 45-day deadline	No timely response was received; statute’s 45-day limit cannot be extended by assessor staff; absence of assessor record means no response	Court found manager’s call credible and that she timely provided a plausible basis for delay; sufficient response for purposes of the first-step inquiry
Whether plaintiff showed "good cause" for late submission and whether dismissal is warranted where assessor did not receive the mailed response	Good cause: I&E tied to audited tax returns not ready until October; manager was inexperienced with Chapter 91 and reasonably relied on staff assurance; mailing may have been lost through no fault of taxpayer	No good cause and no received response; assessor would have forwarded any received I&E to revaluation firm	Court found good cause under the case’s specific facts and, because mailing could have been lost, denied the City’s motion to dismiss

Ocean Pines, Ltd. v. Borough of Point Pleasant, 112 N.J. 1 (N.J. 1988) (establishes the two-step Chapter 91 framework focusing on timely response and good cause)
Tower Center Assocs. v. Township of East Brunswick, 286 N.J. Super. 433 (App. Div. 1996) (taxpayer must act within 45 days and put municipality on notice; relief may be sought from county board or Tax Court)