Legal Question in Construction Law in New Jersey

Re: Town taking too long on permits

I feel your pain. Unfortunately, this happens in some towns some times. You have some ability to make them move, but it is a matter of judgment as to when to kick them and when to pat them on the back. No, you should not proceed without permits. They will find out and cause you grief.

I am not local to Asbury Park, but maybe this is to your advantage in this situation. No one local will want to really anger the building people in town. If you want some legal advice, and do not mind the 2.5 hr round trip drive, call me.

If you would like, give me a call to set up an appointment; I am in northern New Jersey. My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru.

Disclaimer: you can not rely on the advice of an attorney given over the internet. The exact facts of your situation, including facts which you have not mentioned in your question, may completely change the result for your situation.

Re: Town taking too long on permits

Most towns in NJ are bad, but some are unbearable. Remember Lilly Tomlin acting as a telephone operator with a nasal tone saying, "we don't care, we don't have to, we're the phone company." Just substitute your town's name for "phone company".

Can you move things? Yes, and it stinks, but it is most effective when you hire an attorney to statr making calls and writing letters for you, so you can still be the nice but frustrated homewoner, and your atty can be the S.O.B. that's pushing and possibly embarrassing the town building dept. It sucks that you have to throw money on the problem (it's wasteful), but this is how th etowns work, because we let them get away with it. Think about it - I just dod a sub-division, and I had to pay for an engineer, and THEN pay for the township engineer to tell me "No" for bullshit reasons, and make me spend bucket after bucket of money to no one's benefit but the engineers...

You need to 1) gather all your records, applications, drawings, etc, and write out the timeline (include calls noted, to whom, when, what was discussed, etc.), and a call, then maybe a letter needs to be sent to the town. 2) if you do not get a prompt and adequate response (like the 6 month old electrical permit will be issued by March 20, 2006", or whatever, then you have to threaten, and then threaten to file suit to compell performance.

It stinks, but it works - eventually. Don't be suprised it it takes an atty a good 3 months or more to get you past the applications, THEN you have to deal with the inspections, which means more calls and letters and further threats of civil litigation.

NJ R-E-A-L-L-Y sucks in this area (kinda like insurance (any kind of insurance) in NJ).

Sorry & good luck.

KJB