§ 137-13. Notice of abandoned property.

The Public Officer, within 10 days of the establishment of the Abandoned Property List, or any additions thereto, shall send a notice, by certified mail, return receipt requested, and by regular mail to the owner of record of every property included on the list, and shall cause the list to be published in one of the official newspapers of the Borough. Said publication shall constitute public notice. The published and mailed notices shall identify property determined to be abandoned, and therefore a nuisance, setting forth the owner of record, if known, the tax lot and block number and street address. The Public Officer, in consultation with the Borough Tax Collector, shall also send notice by regular mail to any mortgage, servicing organization, or property tax processing organization that receives a duplicate copy of the tax bill pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-64. When the owner of record is not known for a particular property and cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable diligence by the Tax Collector, notice shall not be mailed, but instead shall be posted on the property in the manner provided in N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.7. The mailed notice shall indicate the factual basis for the Public Officer's finding that the property is abandoned, specifying the information relied upon in making such finding. A copy of the mailed or posted notice shall also be filed by the Public Officer in the office of the Union County Clerk. This filing shall have the same force and effect as a notice of lis pendens under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-6. The notice shall be indexed by the name of the property owner as defendant and the name of the Borough as plaintiff, as though an action had been commenced by the Borough against the owner.