Property deeds
Dear Ocean County Clerk's Office,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
1. Deed Book 1158/starts at pg. 27.
2. Deed Book 2042/starts at pg. 51.
3. Deed Book 2084/starts at pg. 10.
Thank you.
Attached are the deeds you requested.
Thank you,
Kim Saviet
Keyboarding Clerk-4 Supervisor
Ocean County Clerk's Office
118 Washington St., Room 113
Toms River, NJ 08753
(732) 288-7645
1-800-722-0291 ext. 7645
Fax (732)288-7680
From: JerseyShoreMan
<[OPRA #24984 email]>
Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2021 1:32 PM
To: Colabella , Scott <[Ocean County Clerk request email]>
Subject: OPRA request - Property deeds
Dear Ocean County Clerk's Office,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law
right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please
acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
1. Deed Book 1158/starts at pg. 27.
2. Deed Book 2042/starts at pg. 51.
3. Deed Book 2084/starts at pg. 10.
Thank you.
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Dear Ms. Saviet,
Thank you for sending the deeds. I sent this response to you on July 29, but never heard back, so perhaps that email ended up in a spam folder. In any event, here is my question again: I've noticed on many of the deeds, the front page has a stamp that says "Indexed." Are there alphabetical name indexes available (and if so, for what years)? If they are available, are copies of specific pages in the name indexes (by last name) able to be requested? For a few of the deeds I have been checking on, sometimes there is no mention of the prior deed, so I was thinking if there is a name index, that is how one would go about finding the next deed back in the chain of deeds.
Thanks for your assistance!
JerseyShoreMan,
This request seeks information or asks questions and does not identify
specific government records. As such, your request is an invalid OPRA
request and is denied. When a request is “complex” because it fails to
specifically identify the documents sought, then that request is not
“encompassed” by OPRA. See New Jersey Builders Association v. New Jersey
Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J. Super. 166, 180 (App. Div.
2007). A proper request under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity
those documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this
requirement by simply requesting all of an agency’s documents. See Bent
v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005).
Custodians are not required to conduct research or create new records in
response to an OPRA request.
You are free to make an appointment to view all records in the County
Clerk Deed room to conduct your own search. Please reach out to Sheila
Burke-Jaccoud in the Deed Room at 732-929-2053.
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or
unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a
right to challenge the decision by the (agency) to deny access. At your
option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New
Jersey or file a complaint with the Government Records Council (GRC) by
completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC
by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box 819, Trenton,
NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their website
at [1]//www.state.nj.us/grc. The GRC can also answer other questions
about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court
should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.
Thank you,
Kim Saviet
Keyboarding Clerk-4 Supervisor
Ocean County Clerk's Office
118 Washington St., Room 113
Toms River, NJ 08753
(732) 288-7645
1-800-722-0291 ext. 7645
Fax (732)288-7680
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From: JerseyShoreMan
<[OPRA #24984 email]>
Sent: Monday, August 2, 2021 11:35 AM
To: Saviet, Kim
Subject: Re: OPRA request - deeds
Dear Ms. Saviet,
Thank you for sending the deeds. I sent this response to you on July 29,
but never heard back, so perhaps that email ended up in a spam folder. In
any event, here is my question again: I've noticed on many of the deeds,
the front page has a stamp that says "Indexed." Are there alphabetical
name indexes available (and if so, for what years)? If they are available,
are copies of specific pages in the name indexes (by last name) able to be
requested? For a few of the deeds I have been checking on, sometimes there
is no mention of the prior deed, so I was thinking if there is a name
index, that is how one would go about finding the next deed back in the
chain of deeds.
Thanks for your assistance!