Are Cemeteries Regulated--10% Landscaping Fees Increase Each Year (Paramus, Woodbridge: home, purchase)

[elchevere]

Greetings:

Part of my family is buried at Cedar Park & Beth El Cemeteries in Paramus and each year the annual maintenance fee keeps on going up 10% (has been going up this amount for at least the past several years).....I find it hard to believe labor costs, for work (most likely just cutting grass once a month) that is only performed 5-6 months out of the year, goes up that amount on an annual basis.

I suppose I could make a one time payment and be done with it and problem solved; however, is there a regulatory agency that overlooks cemeteries and is a 10% increase each year reasonable?...wondering if anyone has contact information for such an agency, if one exists....thanks

[Kracer]

Always wondered what a cemetery would do, not mow around the grave not paying????

[elchevere]

I have wondered the same thing....I am the last remaining member of my immediate family--suppose I were to die suddenly and no additional payments were to come in, would they let weeds and/or grass grow out of control, creating an eye sore for surrounding plots?....I tend to doubt that.

Originally Posted by Kracer

Always wondered what a cemetery would do, not mow around the grave not paying????

[Retriever]

Herein lies a lesson for everyone:
When purchasing cemetery plots, one should always attempt to obtain Perpetual Care--at no additional cost.
When my father purchased burial plots at Beth Israel Memorial Park, in Woodbridge, in 1957, that is what he did.

Fast forward to 2000, when my father died. The funeral home notified Beth Israel of the need to open a space for his coffin, and the cemetery's response included a request for payment of the first year's landscaping fees.

My brother and I immediately drove to Beth Israel's administrative offices with the original documents from 1957, and the cemetery staff professed to be amazed that the original purchase price included Perpetual Care at no additional cost. While they claimed to find this provision... unusual... they canceled that request for payment of landscaping fees, and we have never again received a bill for any landscaping fees.

[elchevere]

By perpetual, I assume you are referring to a one time payment??

If so, I may end up doing that...I have a plot for 10 graves, of which 4 are "occupied" with no plans for additional "occupants"...the cemetery charges a ridiculous $770/year for 2018 maintenance, with a seemingly annual 10% annual increase. At this stage, I am probably better off paying the one time $20-25K fee and be done with it.....I have another cemetery plot I pay for on Long Island (3 occupants with room for 2 more) that only runs me $150/year...why is NJ that more expensive??

Originally Posted by Retriever

Herein lies a lesson for everyone:
When purchasing cemetery plots, one should always attempt to obtain Perpetual Care--at no additional cost.
When my father purchased burial plots at Beth Israel Memorial Park, in Woodbridge, in 1957, that is what he did.

Fast forward to 2000, when my father died. The funeral home notified Beth Israel of the need to open a space for his coffin, and the cemetery's response included a request for payment of the first year's landscaping fees.

My brother and I immediately drove to Beth Israel's administrative offices with the original documents from 1957, and the cemetery staff professed to be amazed that the original purchase price included Perpetual Care at no additional cost. While they claimed to find this provision... unusual... they canceled that request for payment of landscaping fees, and we have never again received a bill for any landscaping fees.

[Retriever]

Originally Posted by elchevere

By perpetual, I assume you are referring to a one time payment??

That cemetery was brand-new at the time, so it was possible that this was a no-cost inducement to purchase plots at that time. Or, it is possible that he made a lump-sum payment for perpetual care at the time of purchase, but if this was the case, I know that the cost must have been minimal--in relation to the inflation rate for that type of maintenance over the ensuing decades.

[elchevere]

well, I found the original deed from 1957.

I am not a lawyer, but there is a clause(s) in the deed that has raised my curiosity:

"And the said party of the first part does covenant and agree to and with the party of the second part, that at the time of delivery hereof the party of the first part is the lawful owner of the lot or plot above conveyed, and has the good right to sell and convey the same, as aforesaid.

.....I actually have up to 12 graves within the plot, of which only 4 are used and will be used--in other words, there are 8 grave spots that will go unused...wondering if the highlighted bold portion above gives me the right to sell back the unused 8 grave spots to the cemetery, which would reduce my annual fees??

"That the said premises are free from encumbrances"

.....might that mean I am free of annual maintenance fees, such as landscaping??


Thanks.

Originally Posted by Retriever

That cemetery was brand-new at the time, so it was possible that this was a no-cost inducement to purchase plots at that time. Or, it is possible that he made a lump-sum payment for perpetual care at the time of purchase, but if this was the case, I know that the cost must have been minimal--in relation to the inflation rate for that type of maintenance over the ensuing decades.

[skeddy]

Originally Posted by elchevere

well, I found the original deed from 1957.

I am not a lawyer, but there is a clause(s) in the deed that has raised my curiosity:

"And the said party of the first part does covenant and agree to and with the party of the second part, that at the time of delivery hereof the party of the first part is the lawful owner of the lot or plot above conveyed, and has the good right to sell and convey the same, as aforesaid.

.....I actually have up to 12 graves within the plot, of which only 4 are used and will be used--in other words, there are 8 grave spots that will go unused...wondering if the highlighted bold portion above gives me the right to sell back the unused 8 grave spots to the cemetery, which would reduce my annual fees??

"That the said premises are free from encumbrances"

.....might that mean I am free of annual maintenance fees, such as landscaping??


Thanks.

no

[jaymoney]

In New York state, no, there are no landscaping fees. In NJ, yes, there are landscaping fees.

So everyone should look into NY or cremation and save the kids the money!

[Retriever]

Originally Posted by jaymoney

In New York state, no, there are no landscaping fees.

However, that doesn't prevent unscrupulous independent landscaping companies from trying to extract money from people who own cemetery plots in NY State. When I was a kid, I can recall my mother receiving an annual bill for "grave maintenance" from a company that had no connection whatsoever with the cemetery where her parents, grandparents, sister, and other relatives were buried. The bill included some sort of statement that attempted to "guilt" people into paying for this company's services.

I remember asking my mother why she wasn't willing to pay this bill for the upkeep of her family's graves. and she gave me my first-ever explanation of a scam. She knew that, whether she paid this independent landscaper's fees or not, her family's graves would be adequately maintained by the cemetery's staff, but there were surely other folks who succumbed to pressure, and who paid those scammers for their... services.