Pending judicial evaluation any sheriff's sale where the Community Wealth Preservation Program is being used will be adjourned till the last outcome of lawsuit (MER-C-94-24).
BEGINNING JANUARY 10, 2024, SHERIFF'S SALES IN MERCER COUNTY WILL BE HELD
EVERY TWO WEEKS
NOTICE Regarding the Community Wealth Preservation Program
On January 12, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation into State law establishing a Community Wealth Preservation Program to promote equity and fairness in foreclosure sales by providing new and higher chances for foreclosed-upon residents and their next of kin, renters, and other prospective owner-occupants - in addition to not-for-profit neighborhood advancement corporations - to purchase and fund a foreclosed-upon home.
NOTE: THIS PROGRAM EXCLUDES THOSE PURCHASING PROPERTIES FOR INVESTMENT PURPOSES.
For further information, see P.L. 2023, c. 255, https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2022/A6000/5664_R3.PDF
Sheriff Sales will be held at the Mercer County Civil Courthouse, 175 South Broad Street, Trenton, every other Wednesday.
Sheriff Sales will begin immediately at 2:00 pm.
( Please keep in mind that the Sheriff's Sale List is upgraded on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays)
One of the functions of the Sheriff's Office is to perform the sale of real residential or commercial property after foreclosure proceedings have been completed.
Foreclosure sales are genuine residential or commercial property only; the Sheriff's Office does not know if any structures are on the residential or commercial property. Further, we can not give approval for prospective bidders to go into and inspect any structure that might be found on the residential or commercial property to be offered.
All residential or commercial properties sold at auction at the Sheriff's Office are advertised Tuesday in the Trenton Times and the Trentonian. Advertisements appear once a week for four successive weeks prior to the initial date of sale.
In addition to paper ads, notifications of sale are published for public viewing here online website (click here) or outside the Sheriff's Office, on the first flooring, 175 South Broad Street, Trenton, New Jersey.
The Sheriff's Office does not have a list, for basic circulation, of the residential or commercial properties to be sold. Persons thinking about residential or commercial properties can make their own lists from paper legal ads.
Sales of residential or commercial property are "open-type" auction sales (no sealed bids). An opening quote of $100 is bid on the preliminary by the complainant. All subsequent bids should begin at $100 over the upset and continue at $1,000.00 increments. The residential or commercial property is sold to the highest bidder.
The successful bidder, upon complete payment of the quote, will get a Sheriff's Deed. This deed does not provide clear title to the residential or commercial property. In order to obtain clear title, one must satisfy all impressive liens and encumbrances. If a buyer does not complete the sale he can be held accountable for his deposit.
If you have an interest in a specific piece of residential or commercial property, we suggest a title search before you really bid. Title searches are carried out by private firms. Their telephone numbers might be discovered in the yellow pages of the telephone directory. A charge is charged. You might likewise do your own title search.
If you are the successful bidder on a piece of residential or commercial property, you are required to post a deposit of 20% on the total quote rate. It must be paid by accredited check, treasurer's check, or cash. It should be paid immediately following the signing of the Conditions of Sale.
The balance of the bid is payable and due on the 30th day from the date of sale. Lawful interest is charged on the balance due from the 11th to the 30th day.
If the residential or commercial property you acquired is inhabited, it is your responsibility to have the occupants removed.
Deed recording costs must be paid by the buyer to the County Clerk's office when the deed is tape-recorded.
Rights of Defendants
In many cases, the residential or commercial property, even after the sale, can be redeemed by the owner for a period of 10 calendar days from the date of sale.
The Sheriff has the discretionary right to make two adjournments of the sale, and no more, not exceeding twenty-eight days for each adjournment. In order to ask for an adjournment an offender must: be called on the Writ of Execution, show ID validating identity and submit a letter requesting the adjournment with a cost of $28 in cash, money order or licensed check for EACH of his 2 adjournments. In the case of an offender's attorney we need your letter to state that you represent the offender's in addition to the factor for adjournment. We will likewise accept a lawyer check.
All charges and commissions that are gathered by the Sheriff's Office are turned over to the General Treasury of the County of Mercer.
To speed your questions on a particular piece of residential or commercial property, it is helpful if you refer to the residential or commercial property by its address or docket number, which appears in the legal advertisement. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Sheriff's Sales Office at (609) 989-6102, 847-3965, or 281-7212.
Sales are carried out Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Sheriff Sale Procedures
- All foreclosures undergo unique conditions. The Sheriff's conditions are as follows:
- The greatest bidder to be the purchaser.
- The buyer must pay 20% of the purchase cost in money, certified check, cashier's check, or treasurer's check, at time of purchase with balance due in thirty days.
- If the purchaser stops working to abide by any of the conditions of sale, the residential or commercial property will be offered a second time, the former buyer being held accountable for all losses and expenditures, and deposit to be kept by the Sheriff to be disbursed by court order.
- Sold based on constraints of record which are unknown to me and unpaid taxes or evaluations and such state of truths as a precise study would reveal.
- A deed to be provided to the purchaser within 14 days from date of sale, with legal interest computed on the balance due, from the 11th day after sale, until balance is paid.
- Immediately upon the conclusion of sale, needs to the effective bidder stop working to sign the conditions of sale and pay the 20% deposit as required herein, the Sheriff shall right away resell the residential or commercial property without additional public ad.
- Sheriff's fee and commissions are taken from the struck off purchase rate. All Sheriff's Sales are sold based on a very first and second mortgage, if any, and any Municipal, State or Federal liens, if any.
The lawyer representing the Plaintiff will have his own conditions of sale.
We highly urge anyone who is not familiar with Sheriff's Sale Procedures to look for legal recommendations and to have a Title Search operated on the residential or commercial property before bidding on any residential or commercial property. The search will reveal if there are exceptional liens, which the bidder would assume if he is the highest bidder.
Sheriff's Sales are held as an open auction. The Attorney for the Plaintiff will start the bidding at $100.00. The bidding will continue till the highest quote is reached, and the greatest bidder will be the buyer. The Plaintiff's lawyer normally does not allow the quote to go for less than the Judgment amount due his client. He will bid until he has actually reached his Upset Price. A Disturbed Price is the overall of the Judgment due, interest, lawyer's costs, Sheriff's costs, marketing costs and commissions. Once the lawyer has reached his Upset Price he might stop bidding and the highest bidder, thereafter, will be the effective bidder.
The Sheriff's Sales are held on Wednesdays at 2 p.m. at:
Mercer County Sheriff's Office,
175 South Broad Street,
Trenton, New Jersey
Download the Sheriff's Real Estate Sales Information Bulletin
The Sheriff's Sales are advertised for 4 weeks every Tuesday in the Trenton Times and the Trentonian prior to sale. On the fourth and final week of advertising, the residential or commercial property is sold on that Wednesday if the sale has not been adjourned. The Plaintiff's lawyer might adjourn as sometimes as is necessary for any factor.
If you are preparing to participate in a Sheriff's Sale, you need to examine the Sales Notices posted online website (click on this link) before or on sale date, to be sure the sale has not been adjourned, positioned in Bankruptcy stay or cancelled.
This office will post a notice of sale on the residential or commercial property during the week of the first marketing. Our workplace does not enter the premises being sold for any other reason. Until the sale is last, the accused (owner) has all rights and advantages of personal privacy to his residential or commercial property. A bidder wishing to approach the owner to see the residential or commercial property before the sale, is recommended that he is on his own.
The owner of the residential or commercial property might at anytime, prior to sale, try to save his home or residential or commercial property in several methods. He might try to renew his overdue quantity owed, pay the judgment in complete, get another loan, and so on. He might also try to sell the residential or commercial property in order to pay the Judgment and at the exact same time make money from the earnings. The offender has a 10 day Redemption Period after the sale during which time he may object to the sale through the courts or redeem the residential or commercial property. The bidder, in this case, would receive his 20 percent deposit back.
The Sheriff's sale deed will be prepared and all set in roughly 14 days after the sale. The balance due on the sale must be paid no behind 30 days after sale, in accordance with the conditions of sale. It's the duty of the purchaser to tape-record the deed in the Registrar of Deeds office. It is the sole duty of the purchaser to alert the owner he has bought the residential or commercial property and now holds the deed to the residential or commercial property. If the offender does not voluntarily leave the residential or commercial property, the purchaser needs to use to the court for a Writ of Possession. Our office will serve the Writ upon the offender which will advise him to abandon the facilities within a particular amount of time. If the accused has not left by the mentioned tentative date, the Sheriff's Office will set a last date to have a moving van sent out to the residential or commercial property and have the offender's personal valuables gotten rid of and kept in a location of safe keeping. The costs of the moving and storage is the duty of the purchaser. A Writ of Possession is not required if the residential or commercial property is uninhabited before, throughout or after the sale.
Surplus Funds
Surplus Funds are defined as the amount of funds gathered over the judgment quantity, charges, costs and commissions that are because of the complainant and Sheriff. Surplus funds are created when a 3rd party buyer buys the residential or commercial property for more than the upset amount. The primary function of surplus funds is to pay any junior lien holders. Any funds left over after these lien holders are paid would be readily available to the defendant.
This can be determined by checking if the quantity the residential or commercial property was offered for is more than the quantity of the judgment. An example of this would be - Sold for is $150,000 & judgment is $120,000, there would be a possibility that there is a surplus.
The Sheriff's Office sends out any surplus funds to the New Jersey State Superior Court, c/o Trust Fund Unit, after the buyer has actually paid the balance of the purchase cost, charges are subtracted, and all monetary deals are completed. This means that the funds are not readily available right away following the sale, as there are instances when the Trust Fund Unit may not get these funds for as much as 2 months after the sale.
If you are the house owner with a foreclosure case in our workplace and you think there was a surplus from the sale of your home, you can contact our workplace or you can call the Trust Fund Unit straight at 609-292-4012.
More Information
- Foreclosure Sale Courtroom Conduct
- Sheriff's Property Sales Information Bulletin [PDF 58k]- Sheriff's Foreclosure List
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