Bergen County Superior Court Civil/Special Civil Division 10 Main ...

Bergen County Superior Court
Civil/Special Civil Division
10 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
Civil located in Room 415
Special Civil located in Room 427
Mailing Address:
Superior Court of New Jersey
Bergen Vicinage
10 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
Office Contact Number Room Number
Civil Division Manager’s Office (201) 527-2600 415
Civil Law Records (201) 527-2720 111
Civil/Special Civil Intake (201) 527-2736 115
CDR Programs
(Arbitration/Mediation)
(201) 527-2735 115
Mass Tort (201) 527-2346 427
Special Civil (DC, LT & SC (201) 527-2730 427
docket #’s)
Chancery (201) 527-2678 340
Foreclosure Mediation (201) 527-2526 115
**For transcripts of case proceedings, please call Transcripts at (201) 527-2277
**For additional information JEFIS/Electronic Filing, please contact Tamica Bolden at
(201) 527-2600 ext. 2859.
Civil Division Management:
• Kathleen Andes-Stylianou, Civil Division Manager
• Mary Demmer, Assistant Division Manager
• Vincenza Bruno, Assistant Division Manager

LAW DIVISION: CIVIL PART
OVERVIEW
As part of the Law Division of the New Jersey Superior Court, the Civil Division
has general jurisdiction in actions to enforce, redress or protect private rights.
The Law Division of the Civil Part handles cases involving monetary damages
and there is no monetary minimum or limit on the value of cases that may be
filed. Under the direction of the Presiding Judge of Civil Division and the Civil
Division Manager, the Civil Division staff oversees the administration of the
procedures and operations in the Civil Division.
Civil Intake
Location: Administrative Building, 1 st Floor, Room 115
Telephone: (201) 527-2736
Civil Case Processing Office is responsible for processing of all civil complaints
filed in the Superior Court. These cases pertain to situations that seek monetary
compensation in most cases. Some types of cases that are filed in the law
division range from, but are not limited to:
Name Change
Personal Injury
Automobile Negligence
Medical Malpractice
Book Account
Breach of Contract
Products Liability
Condemnation
Defamation
Civil Rights
For a complete list of types of cases handled by the Civil Law Division, refer to
the second page of the Case Information Statement (CIS). After an initial
pleading gets filed, the case will be assigned a docket number. These cases are
also categorized into tracks based upon complexity and anticipated discovery
requirements. After the case has been processed, it will then be forwarded and
handled by the appropriate team in the Case Management office.
*For More Information on Civil Division Forms, Fees, and Rules, Please Visit the
NJ Judiciary Website at:
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/forms.htm#civil

Civil Case Management
Location: Administrative Building, 4 th Floor, Room 415
Telephone: (201) 527-2600
The Civil Case Management Office handles the development and movement of
the civil cases from complaint to disposition. This office handles all activities
performed during document processing, case management, scheduling and
disposition of cases filed with the Civil Part. The Management Office is
comprised of four teams, in which each team is assigned to a set of designated
judges and assists in their coordination of calendars and case management
needs.
CDR Programs (Arbitration/Mediation)
Location: Administrative Building, 1 st Floor, Room 115
Telephone: (201) 527-2735
Complementary Dispute Resolution or “CDR” is a collection of strategies or
methods for resolving legal disputes without the time and expense ordinarily
associated with trials and the traditional trial court process. Without sacrificing
quality, court-sponsored CDR programs in Civil Division offer many benefits:
reduced time to disposition; streamlined and less costly discovery; improved
communication or essential issues; and participation of litigants in the resolution
of their dispute. The CDR programs offered in the Civil Division are the following:
Non-Binding Automobile Arbitration (Weekly, Thursday, Room 219)
Non-Binding Personal Injury Arbitration (Bi-Monthly, Wednesday, Room
219)
Non-Binding Contract Arbitration including Lemon Law Cases (One
Tuesday per month, Room 219)
Mediation
Non-Binding Arbitration – In a non-binding arbitration, the dispute is submitted
to experienced, knowledgeable, neutral attorneys or retired judges to hear
arguments, review evidence and render a non-binding decision. Any party has
the right to reject the award and demand a trial. The arbitration award, if
accepted by the parties and confirmed by the court, can be made into a legally
binding and enforceable judgment. Because it is less formal and less complex
than a trial, arbitration can often be concluded more quickly than other formal
court proceedings. Furthermore, since non-binding arbitration is mandatory for
certain types of cases, the arbitration staff will screen, schedule, and will notify
the parties accordingly.

Mediation – In mediation, an impartial third party, the mediator, facilitates
negotiations among the parties to help them reach a mutually acceptable
settlement. A mediator does not make a decision; the parties with the assistance
of their attorneys, if applicable, work toward a solution with which they are
comfortable. The mediator has 90 days to conclude the hearing from date of
referral. The first three hours of the mediation session is provided at no cost.
Any additional time is at a rate agreed upon by the parties and the mediator.
Cases that are not resolved through mediation can be referred to other CDR
programs or trial.
*For More Information on CDR Programs, Please Visit the NJ Judiciary Website
at:
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/services/cdr.htm
Mass Tort
Location: Administrative Building, 1 st Floor, Room 427
Telephone: (201) 527-2346
The definition of a mass tort in New Jersey derives from an identification of
certain common characteristics. Each group of cases designated as a mass tort
do exhibit if not all, of the following characteristics: Large numbers of claims
associated with a single product; mass disasters; and complex environmental
cases and toxic torts. Mass torts are governed by Rule 4:38A and are subject to
different procedure for their designation. Separate complaints are brought by
separate, allegedly injured parties and those matters if designated as a mass tort
by the Supreme Court, will be coordinated and handled by a single judge. The
processing and management of mass torts in Bergen County is handled by the
Mass Tort Team.
*For information on the current Mass Tort Litigations in the State of New Jersey,
please visit the Judiciary’s Mass Tort Website at:
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/mass-tort/index.htm
Civil Part- Law Division Records
Location: Administrative Building, 1 st Floor, Room 111
Telephone: (201) 527-2710
The Law Division Records part is responsible for maintaining files on all civil (Law
Division cases only) cases. They also locate and distribute files for staff and to
the public for review, and accommodate requests for copies of files or information
in case files. The Law Division Records part also handles the archiving and
retention of older court records.

SPECIAL CIVIL PART
Location: 4 th Floor, Room 427
Administration Building
Telephone: (201) 527-2730
The Special Civil Part of the Law Division is a court of limited jurisdiction in which
you may sue someone to collect an amount of money up to $15,000. It’s made
up of three sections: Special Civil, Small Claims and Landlord/Tenant. Some
types of claims that may be filed in the Special Civil Part include, but are not
limited to, breach of a written contract, return of money used as a down payment,
property damage caused by a motor vehicle accident, payments for work
performed, return of tenant’s security deposit. To file a complaint in any of the
three sections of the Special Civil part you may obtain a complaint form from the
Clerk of the Special Civil Part or on-line. A pro-se complaint packet with
accompanying instructions is also available from the clerk’s office or on-line.
There is also a fee associated with a complaint which must be paid at the time of
filing. Forms and fees are both available on-line at
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/forms.htm#civil. A Special Civil Part complaint is
filed in the county in which at least one defendant resides or a defendant
business is located. Anyone can file a complaint in the Special Civil part if they
are over the age of 18. If the person suing is under the age of 18, the claim must
be filed by a parent of guardian.
Cases filed in Special Civil of the Special Civil Part are usually resolved more
quickly then cases filed in the Civil Part and most times without a jury (the option
of a jury exists, but requires an additional $50.). After the complaint is filed, and
served upon the defendant, they have 35 days from the date of service to file an
answer with the Clerk of the court. If the defendant responds within the 35 days,
a trail date will be scheduled and all parties will be notified. If you don’t formally
respond to the complaint in writing within the number of days listed on the
summons, a default will be entered against you. Through a judgment by default,
the court decides the amount of money, if any, to award to the plaintiff because
you did not answer the complaint in time.
Small Claims is another section of the Superior Court’s Special Civil Part. Small
claims handles cases in which the demand does not exceed $3000 or $5000 if
the demand is for the return of a tenant’s security deposit. After the complaint is
filed, and served upon the defendant, all parties will be notified of the trial date by
the court. While in Special Civil an answer is required, one is not in Small Claims.
However, if you have been named as a defendant in a case and you believe the
plaintiff (the person who filed the complaint) owes you money, you may file a
counterclaim. You would file a counterclaim the same way you would file a
complaint (outlined above), but be sure to file it before the date the case is listed
for trial, on the summons. If the defendant does not appear for trial, the plaintiff
will have a default entered by the court. The court may decide on the day of trial

the amount of money, if any, to be awarded to the plaintiff. That is called a
judgment by default.
The Landlord/Tenant section of the Special Civil Part is reserved for the
resolution of differences between property owners and those that rent or lease
that property. Complaints usually arise out of the following: failure to pay rent,
continued disorderly conduct, destruction or damage to property caused willingly
or by gross negligence, habitual lateness in paying rent, violation of the rules and
regulations after written notice to comply or tenants conviction for a drug offense.
After filing a complaint, as the landlord, you must come to court, on the date the
case is scheduled to be heard, and prove that the statements made in the
complaint are true. As the tenant, you too must come to court, on your assigned
date, and defend the case being made against you. Both parties are expected to
bring any witnesses needed to prove their side of the case. The court
encourages the landlord and tenant to settle their case prior to an actual trial. If
the case cannot be settled, there will be trial and the judge will either grant or
deny judgment for possession to the landlord. If the landlord does not appear, the
case will be dismissed. If the landlord appears but the tenant does not, the case
will be defaulted in favor of the landlord.
JUDGMENTS
A default judgment is a judgment entered on behalf of a plaintiff when the
defendant defaults or fails to appear for a proceeding. Once you have been
awarded a judgment in the Special Civil Part you should contact the person that
owes you the money (the judgment debtor) to discuss payment. If you are unable
to collect that way, there are four different ways to collect through the court: an
execution on goods and chattels (personal property), a bank levy, an execution
against wages or a docketed judgment.
The court cannot levy on SSI, welfare, Social Security, veteran or unemployment
benefits. Once you apply and the court issues a writ of execution on goods and
chattels or wages, it is assigned to a Special Civil Part Officer for collection. By
law there is a 10% fee added to the amount of the judgment as the Court
Officer’s commission. The fee is listed on the writ and is payable as the judgment
is collected. Once a writ is issued the payment should be made directly to the
Court Officer or the court and not directly to you as the creditor. The Officer or
court handle the bookkeeping, deduct the commission, and send the balance to
you. After a writ is returned by the Officer marked fully satisfied the Clerk of the
Special Civil Part will enter the satisfaction in the record. After a levy is made by
the Court Officer there is a chance the debtor may contact you to discuss
settlement options. Even if a settlement is reached the Court Officer is still
entitled to his 10% because he has made a valid levy or helped in the production
of payment in some way. Any partial or full payment made directly to you is
subject to the commission that must be paid to the Court Officer,

An execution on goods and chattels provides help from the court to collect
money owed to you. It’s your responsibility to identify the debtor’s personal
property that can be used to satisfy your judgment. You can then ask a court
officer to try and sell personal items at a public sale. The debtor may keep up to
$1,000 worth of personal property. If the debtor does not have $1,000 in personal
property you must use another method to satisfy your judgment and collect the
money owed to you. The fee for this procedure is $5.00 plus an applicable
mileage charge (http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/forms/10537.pdf). The Clerk
or Court Officer will inform you of any additional fees to advertise and sell the
property when and if this occurs.
If you know that a debtor has a savings or a checking account in New Jersey and
you can find out where, you may ask a Court Officer to collect your debt from the
money in that account. This is known as a bank levy. You are responsible for
supplying the name of the bank, the address and the account number- as Court
Officers cannot search for bank accounts. Once the money has been levied by
the Court Officer, it is considered frozen. At that point you are responsible for
filing a Motion to Turn Over Funds with the court. You must also serve a copy on
the debtor and the bank. If the court grants your motion, the judge will sign an
Order to Turn Over Funds. The order will then be delivered to the bank by the
Court Officer. The fee for this procedure is $5.00 plus mileage for each trip to the
bank (http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/forms/10537.pdf).
You may also request an execution against a person’s wages if the debtor works
in New Jersey and earns more then $175.50 per week. To request a wage
execution, you must send a Notice of Application for Wage Execution to the
debtor by regular and certified mail. A copy of the application and proof of how
you mailed the application, to the debtor, must then be filed with the Clerk of the
Special Civil Part in the county in which the case was heard. The debtor may file
an objection to the wage execution. If an objection is filed, a hearing will then be
scheduled by the court. If the debtor does not object, or the court does not accept
the objection, an order for wage execution will be issued and the execution will
be delivered to the debtor’s employer by the Court Officer. The employer will then
hold back a portion of the debtor’s pay in accordance with the signed order. The
money will then be sent to the Court Officer who will in turn send the money to
you. The fee for this procedure is $5.00 plus mileage
(http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/forms/10537.pdf) for the trip to the debtor’s
employer.
If you or a Court Officer are unable to collect the money due to you, you may
have the judgment from the Special Civil Part recorded in the Superior Court
Clerk’s Office in Trenton. Once the judgment is recorded in the Superior Court,
the debtor cannot sell with clear title any real estate owned in New Jersey until
your debt is paid. To have your judgment recorded you must request a Statement
for Docketing from the Clerk of the Special Civil Part in the county where your

case was heard. The statement for docketing must be filed with the Clerk of the
Superior Court located at:
Hughes Justice Complex
PO BOX 971
Trenton, NJ 08625
The fee for filing is $10.00 payable to the Clerk of the Superior Court. There is no
fee in Special Civil for issuing the statement. Once docketed, future efforts to
collect must be made through the Sheriff’s Office in the county where the
debtor’s assets are located.
JEFIS
The JEFIS (http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/jefis/) program allows attorneys to
electronically file all pleadings over the internet. It is currently for Special Civil
Cases of the "DC" docket type only. At this time, you must be an attorney in
order to participate in the JEFIS program.
Chancery- General Equity
Location: 3 rd Floor, Room 340
Administration Building
Telephone: (201) 527-2700 ext. 2896
General Equity (the civil section of the Chancery Division) is a self-managed
department which handles cases of such an unusual nature that they all proceed
before a judge, without a jury, for direct interpretation of the law. Typical cases
handled by General Equity are: civil rights, employment discrimination,
foreclosures, injunctions, specific performance of contracts, and labor disputes.
These are cases that are primarily seeking “equitable” relief as opposed to cases
where a party seeks monetary damages.
Foreclosure Mediation
The New Jersey Judiciary has set up a program to assist certain homeowner s
who have been served with a foreclosure complaint. The program is available to
all qualifying homeowners whether or not they file an answer to the foreclosure
complaint.
Foreclosure Mediation is a process where a neutral mediator is assists lenders
and borrowers in trying to reach a voluntary and mutual agreement to resolve a
loan delinquency. The mediation will take place in the county courthouse with
trained mediators.
For additional information on the Foreclosure Mediation program, please click on
the link below.
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/foreclosure/index.htm

GLOSSARY OF TERMS
ABRITRATION: a pre-settlement program where a case is heard by an impartial
person to solve a dispute, who is vested with the power to make a determination
concerning the issues of the controversy.
ANSWER: the principal pleading on the part of the defendant in response to
plaintiff’s complaint; it must contain a denial of all the allegations of plaintiff’s
complaint which the defendant wishes to controvert.
CHATTLES: any tangible, movable thing; personal property.
COMPLAINT: in a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff setting out the
facts on which the claim for relief is based.
COUNTERCLAIM: a counter demand made by defendant against the plaintiff.
It’s not an answer or denial of plaintiff’s allegations, but rather asserts an
independent cause of action.
DEBTORS: one who has the obligation of paying a debt.
DEFAULT JUDGMENT: a judgment entered on behalf of a plaintiff when the
defendant defaults or fails to appear for a proceeding.
DEFENDANT: the party responding to the complaint.
JURISDICTION: the power to hear and determine a case.
JURY: a group of people summoned and sworn to decide on the facts of issues
at a trail.
JURY TRIAL: the trial of an issue of fact before a jury.
LANDLORD: one who leases property.
LEVY (or Levied): to raise or collect; to seize
NON-JURY TRIAL: a trial heard without a jury.
MEDIATION: a method of settling disputes outside of the court room setting.
PLAINTIFF: the one who initially brings the law suit and files the complaint.

PRO-SE: to appear on one’s own behalf; to represent yourself.
PRO-SE PACKET: a packet of information, including forms and instructions,
available for people who wish to represent themselves without the help of an
attorney.
TENANT: one who holds land by any kind of title or right, whether permanent or
temporary.
TRIAL: a judicial examination of issues between parties, whether the issues are
of law or of fact, before a court that has jurisdiction over that cause.
WRIT OF EXECUTION: a routine court order by which the court attempts to
enforce the judgment that has been granted a plaintiff by authorizing an officer to
levy on the property belonging to the judgment debtor, which is located within the
county.