An Essex County home inspector has built a free website that lets anyone look up the public records behind a New Jersey property &mdash; building permits, flood zones, fire history, oil tanks and contamination sites, property taxes, and more &mdash; by typing in an address.
The site, <a href="https://oprasearch.app/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Permit &amp; Parcel</a>, covers all 564 New Jersey municipalities and brings together records from official sources, including state and county databases, FEMA flood maps, and the towns&rsquo; own municipal codes. No account or email is required, and there&rsquo;s no cost. Since launching this spring it has handled more than 18,000 searches from every county in the state.
&ldquo;I kept watching buyers fall in love with a house before anyone checked the paper trail &mdash; the open permits, the flood zone, what the town actually requires when a home changes hands,&rdquo; said Leo Betancor, a Certified Master Inspector based in Cedar Grove and the founder of the site. &ldquo;All of that is public record. It just wasn&rsquo;t in one place anyone could actually use.&rdquo;
&ldquo;And it isn&rsquo;t only for buyers,&rdquo; Betancor added. &ldquo;With rates where they are, a lot of people are staying put. The house you already own has a paper trail too &mdash; an old oil tank, a flood zone change, a lead service line &mdash; and most owners have never seen it.&rdquo;
Alongside the main lookup, the site includes free single-purpose tools: a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/contamination/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">contamination and tank lookup</a> showing known spill sites and registered tanks near any address, a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/lead-pipes/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">lead water pipe check</a>, a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/lead-safe/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">lead-safe inspection lookup</a> showing which of the two state-required inspection methods each town uses under New Jersey&rsquo;s lead paint law, a searchable <a href="https://oprasearch.app/lead-contractors/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">directory of DCA-certified lead evaluation and abatement contractors</a> sorted by distance, a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/fire/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">fire-incident map</a> built from more than 40 years of state fire records, and a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/radon/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">radon map</a> covering every municipality.
Homeowners can also <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/tax/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">look up property taxes and assessments</a>, <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/hvac-age/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">check the age of a furnace, air conditioner or water heater</a>using its serial number, and <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/co/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">find their town&rsquo;s certificate-of-occupancy requirements</a> before selling or renting a home.
A companion site, <a href="https://njflood.zone/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">njflood.zone</a>, gives instant FEMA flood-zone answers for any New Jersey address &mdash; built after the federal government shutdown left FEMA&rsquo;s own map site unreliable &mdash; running on the site&rsquo;s own servers with the complete flood map data for the state loaded locally.
Permit &amp; Parcel carries no advertising and is funded entirely by Smart Choice Inspections, Betancor&rsquo;s Cedar Grove home inspection company. Readers who find the site useful and need an inspection can claim <a href="https://callsmartchoice.com/patch" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">$100 off a qualifying home inspection</a>, or learn more on <a href="https://callsmartchoice.com/leobetancor/?gift=credit100&amp;campaign=patch" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Betancor&rsquo;s page</a>.
The project was recently featured in <a href="https://www.tapinto.net/towns/east-hanover-slash-florham-park/columns/at-home-with-holly/articles/deep-dive-conversations-what-the-house-won-t-tell-you" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">TAPinto</a>. Both sites are free at <a href="https://oprasearch.app/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">oprasearch.app</a> and <a href="https://njflood.zone/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">njflood.zone</a>.

Essex County

Eric Kiefer

New York City Metropolitan Area

Montclair

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How to Win a DWI Case in New Jersey/Handling Drug, DWI and Serious Cases in Municipal Court Seminar 
On Nov 24, 2026 from 2pm-4pm

 NOW via Lawline Live Webcast
Registration link
<a href="https://www.lawline.com/course/how-to-win-a-dwi-case-in-new-jersey" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.lawline.com/course/how-to-win-a-dwi-case-in-new-jersey</a>

<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/801026362479058" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">facebook.com/events/801026362479058</a>
Speakers:
John Menzel, Esq. Past Chair, NJSBA Municipal Court Practice Section 
 
Kenneth A. Vercammen, Esq., Past Municipal Court Attorney of the Year
Course Description: The DWI defense landscape is undergoing a transformative period in New Jersey. From statutory shifts allowing structured plea bargaining to landmark evidentiary rulings on drug recognition experts, Municipal Court practitioners must adapt rapidly to effectively represent their clients. In this comprehensive CLE program, veteran New Jersey DWI practitioners Kenneth Vercammen and John Menzel guide attorneys through winning litigation strategies, emerging scientific standards, and major court decisions from 2025 and 2026. The faculty will examine the practical mechanics of New Jersey's expanded DWI plea-bargaining statute, dissecting when and how to negotiate favorable resolutions under the law.
Additionally, the course provides an in-depth analysis of State v. Olenowski, detailing the admissibility standards for Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) and breaking down the mandatory 12-step DRE evaluation process required for prosecution. Defense counsel will also gain critical insights into the status and evidentiary reliability of the Alcotest 9510 breath-testing device, alongside a review of key criminal and municipal court decisions shaping defense strategies today.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
1.Formulate effective trial strategies by analyzing recent 2025&ndash;2026 New Jersey case law to build stronger DWI defenses.
2.Apply the updated plea-bargaining statute to negotiate client resolutions within New Jersey's new legal parameters.
3.Challenge Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) evidence under State v. Olenowski by scrutinizing adherence to the mandatory 12-step evaluation.
4.Evaluate the reliability of the Alcotest 9510 to prepare foundational evidentiary challenges and targeted discovery requests.

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