OPRA Request
Feel free to cut and paste this into a blank document and modify it accordingly:
Your name
Your current address
Your Email Adddress:
Municipal Clerk
Address for your municipality
RE: Open Public Records Act Request for: property you are purchasing, NJ,
Dear Clerk,
Please accept this letter as my official request for public records under N.J.S.A 47:1A-1 et seq the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA). I am aware OPRA requires you, as the custodian of the municipal records to: Respond to, and usually fulfill this OPRA request within seven business days as required by the law, and that I do NOT have to appear to personally inspect the records as per instructions provided in the Citizen’s Guide To OPRA shown at https://NJ.Gov/grc/public/citizens
Time is of the essence because I am under contract to purchase: address of the property you are purchasing, New Jersey. Your co-operation in providing the records as quickly as possible is important. As the contract purchaser of the property, I believe I have additional rights under common law as memorialized in Division of Code and Standards Bulletin 03-3
see https://AccurateInspections.com/OPRA-DCA03-3.pdf
I am requesting copies of records the municipality possesses especially those records maintained by the specific departments listed below relating to the subject property by example but not limited to the records maintained by the:
Construction Code Enforcement: (documents required to be kept by N.J.A.C. 5:23 Uniform Construction Code including the permits, inspections, approvals, and violations specify here).
In order to make sure the requested documents are provided PLEASE CC this letter to Code Enforcement.
Fire department: List of responses to the subject property.
Tax office: Current property tax record information indicating the date the assessment was last updated, records of open and recently closed construction permits, number of rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms as well as lot size.
Health department: Records of water wells, and on-site sanitary disposal systems indicating the number of bedrooms the systems are designed for if they are still in use.
Please call me at: your phone number within seven business days, as required by law to make arrangements for delivery of copies of the documents.
Thank you for your assistance and co-operation.
Sincerely yours,
Your name
Revised to 9-18-19