New Jersey Counties face Copy Cost Lawsuits

News for Public Officials

April-04-07

Mercer County New Jersey recently joined a growing list of counties to face class action lawsuits over what the agencies charge for copies of Public Records. The county charges 50 cents for copies that customers make themselves on a copy machine.

But a recent  lawsuit claims 50 cents is too high and exceeds the "actual cost" permitted under the Open Public Records Act. The suit alleges that companies such as Kinko’s only charge 10 cents per page for self service copies and they are making a profit.

The suit was filed on behalf of a title searcher by Sander Friedman, attorney with the West Berlin firm of Friedman Doherty. The lawsuit alleges that title searchers and other professionals must utilize the clerk’s office for information relating to property and therefore, have a vested interest in paying the proper amount for photo copies.

Paula Sollami-Covello

"I'm confident we're acting appropriately and we will fight this," said County Clerk Paula Sollami-Covello.

 Friedman said his firm has filed similar suits against clerks in ten other New Jersey counties.

This isn’t the first time New Jersey counties and municipalities have faced lawsuits over copy costs.

As part of a class action settlement in 2004 involving hundreds of communities in the state of New Jersey, 22 Gloucester County towns agreed to issue refunds to individuals they allegedly overcharged for municipal court documents known as "discovery" materials.

Last year, Joseph Dugan, a homebuilder in Mount Laurel, Pennsylvania had his attorney, Donald Doherty, filed a lawsuit against two New Jersey counties - Burlington and Camden. Dugan said he was appalled at the cost that people were paying in county offices to copy public documents. In an attempt to appease Dugan and others, the counties agreed to a settlement that required them to offer photocopying rebates totaling $1.6 million to any taxpayer who duplicated documents in the clerks' offices since 1996.

In addition to the rebates, the counties agreed to reduce copy prices to 5 cents per page in January 2007. This fee must remain in place for five years, according to the settlement. Prior to agreement, Burlington County charged 50 cents per page while Camden charged $1 per page.

Meanwhile Ocean County Clerk Carl W. Block has turned the question of ethical fees back on one record retrieval company that sells copies of deeds to homeowners for $79.50 each. Last month, Block asked New Jersey Attorney General Stuart Rabner to investigate National Deed Service Inc.

The fees National Deed Service charges to provide a certified copy are roughly 550 percent over what the county charges, Block said in his letter to Rabner.

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