Opra Request
Dear Hoboken City,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-6(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.
I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.
I WILL use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested:
Tax Delinquent
- A list of all property addresses that have an unpaid property tax bill for the last 12 months. Please also include in the list or separately a list of properties whose property tax bill was liened against the property.
Water Shut Off / Utility Liens
- A list of all property addresses that have had their water bill liened against the property, have failed to pay their water bill, or have had the water shut off at any point in the last 6 months.
Fire Damage List
- A list of all property addresses that the fire department has received an emergency call to in the last 90 days.
Code Violation
- A list of property addresses that have received any code violations in the last 6 months
Vacant List
- A list of all properties that the city deems to be currently vacant or abandoned.
My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.
Yours faithfully,
Nathan
February 25, 2026
Dear Nathan Stallone,
This office is in receipt of your OPRA request seeking lists of (1) tax delinquent properties, (2) properties with water shut offs or utility liens, (3) fire related emergency calls, (4) properties with code violations, and (5) vacant or abandoned properties.
This letter is to acknowledge receipt of the request and, after consultation with corporation counsel, the City responds as follows. Please be advised that a request pursuant to OPRA must identify the records sought with specificity. Bart v. Passaic County Pub. Hous. Agency, 406 N.J. Super. 445, 451 (App. Div. 2009). OPRA “is not intended as a research tool litigants may use to force government officials to identify and siphon useful information.” MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of ABC, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005). A custodian may reject a request that is overly broad or vague so as to prevent identification of the records sought. N.J. Builders Ass’n v. COAH, 390 N.J. Super. 166, 172 (App. Div. 2007). Moreover, OPRA does not countenance open ended searches of an agency’s files. MAG, 375 N.J. Super. at 549.
As written, your request seeks the creation or compilation of multiple “lists,” which OPRA does not require, and does not sufficiently identify specific, existing government records.
Accordingly, we require clarification identifying the specific records you are seeking for each category.
Processing is paused pending your clarification.
Sincerely,
MB-
“Please reply ALL when responding to OPRA”
Mary Beth Rotondi
Hoboken City Clerks' Office
94 Washington St
Hoboken, NJ 07030
201 420 2000 ext. 1031
[email address]