SEC Company Response from FIRST REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST OF NEW JERSEY, INC. (FREVS) (CIK 0000036840) (FREVS) — May 13, 2010
FIRST REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST OF NEW JERSEY, INC. (FREVS) (CIK 0000036840)
Date: May 13, 2010 · CIK: 0000036840 · Accession: 0000914317-10-000840
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 000-25043
Referenced dates: April 13, 2010
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CORRESP
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filename1.htm
corresp-108618_freit.htm
Securities
and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
100 F
Street, N.E.
Washington,
DC 20549
Attention: Jennifer
Gowetski, Senior Counsel
Re:
First
Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey
Form
10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2009
Filed
January 14, 2010
File
No. 000-25043
Dear Ms.
Gowetski:
This
letter sets forth the responses of First Real Estate Investment Trust of New
Jersey (the “Trust”) to the comments of the Staff of the Division of Corporation
Finance (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“Commission”), in the Staff’s comment letter dated April 13, 2010, with respect
to the Trust’s Form 10-K referenced above (the “Form 10-K”) and Definitive Proxy
Statement for the 2010 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Proxy
Statement”). The Proxy Statement was mailed to shareholders on or
about March 1, 2010, and the Annual Meeting of Shareholders was held on April 7,
2010. Disclosures containing information similar to the information
set forth in the sample disclosures presented below will be included in future
filings by the Trust.
FORM 10-K FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR ENDED OCTOBER 31, 2009
Signatures, page
38
1.
Please
revise future filings to include all signatures on the signature
page. Refer to General Instruction D to Form 10-K.
Response
– The Trust will revise future Form 10-K filings to include all signatures
on the signature page in compliance with General Instruction D to Form
10-K.
Exhibit Index, page
59
2.
Refer
to the Line of Credit Note with Provident Bank, which is included as
Exhibit 10.6 to the Form 10-K. We note that the agreement, as
filed, appears to omit schedules and exhibits to the
agreement. Item 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K requires you to
file all material contracts in their entirety. Please file the
complete agreement with your next quarterly report or tell us why you
believe this agreement is no longer material to
investors. Furthermore, with respect to the Agency Agreement
filed as Exhibit 10.5, please tell us if you have incorporated this
agreement from another filing and indicate where it can be located as it
does not appear to have been filed with your Form 10-K.
Response
– The Line of Credit Note does not include any schedules or have any
schedules attached to it. The Line of Credit Note makes
reference to certain information that may either be included on schedules
attached thereto or maintained on the records of the lender. No
such schedules were included in or attached to the executed Line of Credit
Note.
The
Trust will file the Agency Agreement identified as Exhibit 10.5 to the
Form 10-K as an exhibit to the Trust’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for
the quarter ending April 30, 2010.
DEFINITIVE PROXY
STATEMENT
Executive
Compensation, page 14
Fiscal 2009
Compensation, page 15
3.
Please
revise your disclosure regarding your compensation paid to your executive
officers to provide a more detailed analysis of the compensation paid to
individual officers and clarify what you mean by “fees.” For
example, you state that the board takes into account fees paid by other
REITs and the value of the services provided by the executive
officers. Please explain how those factors led the board to
determine not to increase or decrease compensation. Refer to
Item 402(b) of Regulation S-K. Please provide us with sample
disclosure and confirm that you will provide similar disclosure in future
filings.
Response
– The Trust proposes to include disclosure substantially similar to that
set forth below, revised as marked to show changes made to the disclosure
contained in the Proxy Statement, in future filings, with such further
revisions as may be necessary to reflect then current facts and
circumstances and to disclose any subsequent actions taken or policies
adopted by the Board of Trustees with respect to matters relating to
compensation:
Fiscal
2009 Compensation
With
respect to feescompensation
for the Executive Officers for the 2009 fiscal year, including with
respect to both Mr. Hekemian in his capacity as Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Barney in his capacity as President,
Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, the Board of Trustees
considered the
following factors, among other things, : (i) feescompensation
paid by other real estate investment trusts, both as a component
of operating expenses and to ensure that the Trust’s compensation levels
are competitive in the industry;, (ii) the duties
and responsibilities of the Executive Officers and the value of the
services provided by them, including the amount
of time expended by them on the Trust’s business;, and (iii) the
Trust’s operating results and financial
condition, as well as the financial condition and prospects of the
residential and commercial real estate industries. See
“Fiscal 2009 Compensation: Trustees” for amounts payable to Mr. Hekemian
and Mr. Barney for services in their capacities as
Trustees. For the 2009 fiscal year, the Board of Trustees
determined that the compensation paid to its Executive Officers would
remain the same as in the prior year after taking into
account the factors referenced above, including the adverse and uncertain
economic climate in which the Trust is currently
operating.
Fiscal 2009
Nonqualified Deferred Compensation, page 20
4.
Please
include a narrative description of the material factors necessary to an
understanding of the deferred fee plan. In particular, please
discuss whether there are any limits on the amount of compensation that
can be deferred and describe the measures for calculating interest,
including whether such measures are selected by the executive or the
registrant and the frequency and manner in which selections may be
changed. Refer to Item 402(i)(3) of Regulation
S-K. Please provide us with sample disclosure and confirm that
you will provide similar disclosure in future filings.
Response
– A narrative description of the Trust’s Deferred Fee Plan is included
under “Executive Compensation – Officers and/or Trustees Deferred Fee
Plan” on page 16 of the Proxy Statement, to which reference is made in the
paragraph immediately preceding the Fiscal 2009 Nonqualified Deferred
Compensation table on page 20. The description of the Deferred
Fee Plan is reproduced below for convenience of reference, revised, as
marked, to state that (i) the Deferred Fee Plan does not impose any
limitations on the amount of compensation that may be deferred thereunder,
(ii) an election to defer compensation is required to be made prior to the
calendar year in which it is effective and is irrevocable with respect to
the calendar year to which it applies, (iii) the rate of interest payable
on deferred amounts was based on a rate equal to 120% of the applicable
federal long-term interest rate in effect in the month the Deferred Fee
Plan was established, (iv) participants in the Deferred Fee Plan are not
permitted to select or change the measures used to calculate interest, and
(v) the Deferred Fee Plan may be amended, suspended or terminated by
resolution of the Board of Trustees. The description currently
states that the Trust has established a rate of interest payable on
amounts deferred equal to 9% per annum compounded
quarterly. The Trust proposes to include the substantially
similar disclosure, as revised to show changes, in future
filings:
Officers
and/or Trustees Deferred Fee Plan
Effective
November 1, 2000, the Board of Trustees adopted a deferred fee plan, which
was amended and restated effective December 31, 2008 (the “Deferred Fee
Plan”), for its Executive Officers and its Trustees. Pursuant
to the Deferred Fee Plan, any Executive Officer or Trustee may elect to
defer receipt of any compensation,
including executive officer, Trustee retainer, meeting attendance,
or property site inspection fees. There is no limitation
on the amount of compensation that a participant may elect to defer under
the Deferred Fee Plan. An election to defer compensation is
required to be made prior to the calendar year for which it will be
effective, and is irrevocable with respect to the calendar year to which
it applies. The Trust has agreed to pay any
Executive Officer or Trustee, who elects to participate in the Deferred
Fee Plan,fixed the rate
of interest payable on any
deferred fees at the rate of
9% per annum, compounded quarterly, which interest rate
was determined based on a rate equal to 120% of the applicable federal
long-term interest rate in effect in November 2000, the month in which the
Deferred Fee Plan was established. Participants in the Deferred
Fee Plan do not select, nor are they entitled to change, the measures used
to calculate interest. Any such deferred fee and the
interest accrued thereon shall be paid at either: (i) the retirement age
specified by the Executive Officer or Trustee in the deferral election; or
(ii) actual retirement of the Executive Officer or Trustee; or (iii) upon
the earlier cessation of duties as an Executive Officer or Trustee of the
Trust. The Deferred Fee Plan provides that any such deferred
fees will be paid in a lump sum or in annual installments over a period
not to exceed 10 years, at the election of the Executive Officer or
Trustee. The Trust has not created and will not create a cash
sinking fund for such deferred fees. As a result, any Executive
Officer or Trustee who elects to participate in the Deferred Fee Plan is
an unsecured creditor of the Trust with respect to any such deferred
fee. The Deferred Fee Plan
may be amended, suspended or terminated by resolution of the Board of
Trustees at any time and from time to time, provided that no amendment,
suspension or termination shall operate to adversely affect the plan
benefits accrued or available for any participant. As of
October 31, 2009, approximately $2,848,000 of fees have been deferred,
including accrued deferred interest of approximately
$1,075,000.
In
connection with the responses provided above, the Trust acknowledges the
following:
·
the
Trust is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in
its filing;
·
Staff
comments or changes to disclosure in response to Staff comments do not
foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the
filing; and
·
the
Trust may not assert Staff comments as a defense in any proceeding
initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities
laws of the United States.
If you
have any questions or comments with respect to the foregoing, please contact the
undersigned.
Very
truly yours,
/s/ Robert S.
Hekemian
ROBERT
S. HEKEMIAN
Chairman
of the Board and Chief Executive
Officer
cc: Erin
E. Martin