N.J. Scraps Rebuilding Fee

Homeowners in New Jersey won’t have to pay the state an extra fee to rebuild their houses after a fire or flood.

The state’s Council on Affordable Housing proposed an exemption to regulations it passed in June that established the fees.

The exemption is going to help one family right away. The Ferraros of Franklin Borough in Sussex County lost their house in March due to an electrical fire. Without the exemption, they or the town would have had to pay $17,500.

The Ferraros told The Star-Ledger of Newark that work is under way on their house and they hope to be moved back in by November.