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Guide 04
5 min read · updated October 22, 2026
New Jersey forecloses through its courts, so a foreclosed home in New Jersey is sold at a sheriff sale, by the sheriff of the county where it sits. Our records hold 1,253 upcoming New Jersey sheriff sales in 15 counties; the next is in Burlington County on October 22, 2026, with 85 properties listed. The median opening bid across the New Jersey sales we hold is $296,503.
Before suing on a residential mortgage, the lender must send the borrower a notice of intention to foreclose "at least 30 days, but not more than 180 days" before filing [1]. The complaint is filed in the Superior Court, Chancery Division. Most cases are not contested and go to final judgment through the court's Office of Foreclosure; a contested case goes before a judge. Owner-occupants can ask for the court's foreclosure mediation, which can hold a case for months.
The final judgment fixes the amount due, and the clerk issues a writ of execution to the county sheriff. From there the clock is set by statute: "The sheriff shall conduct a sale within 150 days of the sheriff's receipt of any writ of execution" [2]. If the sheriff cannot, the plaintiff can ask for a special master to hold the sale instead.
The sheriff's notice of sale is posted at the sheriff's office and at the property, and published in two newspapers. The statutory form of sheriff's deed recites the standard: notice "set up at the premises to be sold at least three weeks next before the time appointed for such sale," and "published four times in two newspapers" [3]. Each sheriff also keeps a sale list: the docket number, the plaintiff and defendant, the address, the sale date and, depending on the county, the judgment and the upset price. That list is what the New Jersey sheriff sales pages here are built from.
The upset price is the figure the foreclosing plaintiff will bid up to, usually built from the judgment, the interest since and the costs. Many New Jersey sheriffs announce it only at the sale, so a listing without one is not an error. In many counties the plaintiff opens with a nominal bid and raises it only if someone bids against it. It need not send anyone: with the sheriff's consent, "A letter containing bidding instructions may be sent to the sheriff in lieu of an appearance" [4]. If nobody bids above the plaintiff, the plaintiff takes the property.
Your bid has to clear the upset price and still work as an investment. The foreclosing lenders pages show who is bringing sales in each county.
The deposit is the same in every New Jersey county: 20 percent of the winning bid, in cash or by certified or cashier's check, paid the moment the sale ends.
The Fair Foreclosure Act sets it: "the successful bidder at the sheriff's sale shall pay a 20 percent deposit in either cash or by a certified or cashier's check, made payable to the sheriff of the county in which the sale is conducted, immediately upon the conclusion of the foreclosure sale" [5]. A bidder who cannot pay is in default; the sheriff voids the sale and resells on the spot, and the defaulting bidder owes the plaintiff any shortfall [6].
The balance is where counties differ. The statute has the sheriff deliver the deed within two weeks of the sale if the buyer has paid the balance [7], but the deadline for paying it, the interest charged on a late payment and the fees on top of the bid are in each sheriff's conditions of sale. Many counties allow 30 days. Read the county's conditions before the sale, including what they say the property is sold subject to: unpaid taxes, municipal liens and prior encumbrances commonly stay with the property.
New Jersey caps them by statute. A sheriff "may make five adjournments of the sale, two at the request of the lender" [8], two at the debtor's request and one by agreement, "not exceeding 30 calendar days for each adjournment," and only "a court of competent jurisdiction may, for cause, order further adjournments" [9]. A bankruptcy filing stops the sale whatever the count. Why sheriff sales get postponed explains how to read the adjournment history on a listing.
The sheriff reports the sale to the Superior Court. The court rules (R. 4:65-5) leave a short period after the sale in which a party can object to it, and New Jersey courts have allowed the owner to redeem in that window by paying what is owed. Because the statute has the sheriff deliver the deed within two weeks of the sale once the balance is paid [7], that window is brief. Until the deed is delivered, a winning bid is not yet a purchase.
Possession is the buyer's job. A former owner who stays can be removed only through the court, usually by a writ of possession. Tenants are a bigger question. New Jersey's Anti-Eviction Act generally protects residential tenants from removal by a foreclosure buyer except on the grounds it lists, on top of the federal right to 90 days' notice [10]. A tenanted property may come with its tenants.
If the winning bid is more than the plaintiff is owed, the surplus goes neither to the buyer nor to the plaintiff. The writ directs "that the surplus money arising from such sale, if any there be, should be brought into our said Court" [11], and junior lienholders and the former owner then apply to the Superior Court for it.
A New Jersey tax sale certificate is foreclosed differently: the certificate holder usually takes title by final judgment, with no sheriff sale. Since a 2024 amendment, the owner can change that. In an ordinary certificate foreclosure (not one on abandoned property), the owner can demand, before final judgment, that the certificate be foreclosed "in the same manner as a mortgage through a judicial sale" [12], or by an internet auction through the sheriff, so that the equity above the tax debt is not lost.
For the process in general, see how sheriff sales work; for the research before bidding, how to buy a house at a sheriff sale.
Twenty percent of the winning bid, in cash or by certified or cashier's check payable to the sheriff, immediately when the sale ends. The Fair Foreclosure Act sets that for every county. The balance is due on the schedule in the county sheriff's conditions of sale.
Five times without a court order: twice at the lender's request, twice at the debtor's and once by agreement, each for no more than 30 calendar days. A court can order further adjournments for cause, and a bankruptcy filing stays the sale whatever the count.
The figure the foreclosing plaintiff will bid up to, usually built from the judgment plus interest and costs. Many sheriffs announce it only at the sale. An outside bidder has to bid more than the plaintiff is willing to.
Only for a short time. The court rules leave a brief period after the sale, before the sheriff delivers the deed, in which a party can object, and New Jersey courts have allowed the owner to redeem in that window by paying what is owed. Once the deed is delivered, the sale stands.
General information about New Jersey procedure, not legal advice. Each county sheriff sets its own conditions of sale, and court rules change; confirm with the sheriff's office before bidding.
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