Mulligan v. Panther Valley Property Owners Ass'n
Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division
766 A.2d 1186 (2001)
Elinor Mulligan (plaintiff) lived in a private community governed by the Panther Valley Property Owners Association (defendant), which amended its restrictive covenants in 1998 to bar registered Tier 3 sex offenders from residing there. Mulligan sued, arguing the amendment unlawfully restricted her ability to sell or lease to sex offenders, effectively forced her to identify sex offenders herself, and violated public policy by unfairly limiting housing for a disfavored group; the trial court upheld the amendment in a summary proceeding, and Mulligan appealed.
Whether a court may uphold a restrictive covenant banning sex offenders from a community through a summary proceeding without weighing the competing public policy considerations involved.