46:3B-14. Moneys and claims for advance funding for remediation of structural damages

2. a. The commissioner is hereby authorized to advance moneys out of the fund for the remediation of structural damages due to defective FRT plywood occurring in structures covered by an approved warranty program, subject to the provisions and requirements of this act.

b. A claim for such advance funding may be made by any owner of the affected structure, jointly by any owner and builder of the affected structures, any builder who undertakes to remediate the cited damages, or any warranty guarantor who undertakes to reimburse the owner or builder for the costs of such remediation. Approval and payment of such claim shall be conditioned upon the claimant's assigning to the State of New Jersey, for the use of the fund, the claimant's rights in any claim upon any responsible party, or in any other recovery of funds, that may arise out of the damage cited in the claim. As a condition of any assignment and as a precondition to the receipt of any advance funding pursuant to this section, a claimant that has not previously instituted suit to recover damages on grounds of failure of FRT plywood shall provide the Department of Community Affairs with all documents and information in the possession of the claimant or of the claimant's counsel or representative that may be relevant to the State's effort to recover from responsible parties, and shall agree to cooperate fully with the Department of Community Affairs and the Attorney General's Office in the prosecution of any legal action to obtain such recovery. If the claimant has previously instituted suit to recover such damages, then the claimant and its counsel, as a condition of any assignment and receipt of advance funding shall cooperate with the Attorney General's pursuit of the claim or any related civil action in accordance with the provisions of section 6 of this act. The failure of any claimant or its counsel, employees, members, or agents to cooperate fully with the Attorney General or the commissioner shall constitute a basis to deny payment of the claim and the refusal of its assignment or, in the instance that the claim has already been paid and assigned, for the rescission of the assignment and the recovery by the commissioner of any monies paid by the commissioner to the claimant pursuant to this act. All documents and information communicated to the Attorney General and the commissioner by the claimant or its counsel under this section and under section 6 of this act shall be fully protected by all privileges applicable by statute, court rule, or common law for attorney-client communications and attorney work product, and the communication of that information to the Attorney General or the commissioner by claimant or its counsel shall not be deemed a waiver of any of those privileges and shall not be deemed to provide a basis to require those communications to be disclosed to potentially responsible parties, or their counsel, or others.

c. A claim pursuant to this section shall be filed with the commissioner in such manner and form, and accompanied by such supporting data, as the commissioner shall by regulations require. Upon review of such claim the commissioner may require, and the claimant shall supply, such additional data and other information as the commissioner deems necessary in order to substantiate approval of the claim in accordance with the standards set forth in section 3 of this act.

d. The commissioner is hereby authorized to expend moneys of the fund for the expenses of administration of claims made under this section, including the costs of receiving, verifying and paying such claims, of handling or resolving administrative hearings or litigation arising out of claims that are rejected by the commissioner for advance funding, and of pursuing the recovery of moneys on behalf of the fund pursuant to section 5 of this act.

e. For purposes of this act "owner" means, for purposes of a claim involving a structure or structures that is filed under this act, an individual fee simple owner, an association of individual owners or lessees that is responsible for the maintenance or replacement of the roof structure or an association formed for the purpose of pursuing a unified claim under this act.

f. For the purposes of this section "undertakes" means, for purposes of a claim filed by a builder or warranty guarantor, a written agreement or written acknowledgement by the builder to remediate the cited damages for the structure or structures for which the claim is being filed, or a written agreement or written acknowledgement by the warranty guarantor to reimburse the owner or builder for the costs to remediate the cited damages for the structure or structures for which the claim is being filed.

L.1991,c.202,s.2.