Pending judicial evaluation any constable's sale where the Community Wealth Preservation Program is being utilized will be adjourned till the final result 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 Neighborhood Wealth Preservation Program to promote equity and fairness in foreclosure sales by providing new and greater chances for foreclosed-upon citizens and their near relative, renters, and other potential owner-occupants - in addition to not-for-profit neighborhood development corporations - to purchase and finance a foreclosed-upon home.
NOTE: THIS PROGRAM EXCLUDES THOSE PURCHASING PROPERTIES FOR INVESTMENT PURPOSES.
For further details, 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 start without delay at 2:00 pm.
( Please keep in mind that the Sheriff's Sale List is updated on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays)
Among the functions of the Sheriff's Office is to carry out the sale of real residential or commercial property after foreclosure proceedings have been completed.
Foreclosure sales are for genuine residential or commercial property only; the Sheriff's Office does not understand if any structures are on the residential or commercial property. Further, we can not allow for prospective bidders to enter and examine any structure that may be found on the residential or commercial property to be sold.
All residential or commercial properties offered at auction at the Sheriff's Office are advertised Tuesday in the Trenton Times and the Trentonian. Advertisements appear as soon as a week for four consecutive weeks prior to the preliminary date of sale.
In addition to paper advertisements, notifications of sale are published for public viewing here on the WEB website (click on this link) or outside the Sheriff's Office, on the very first flooring, 175 South Broad Street, Trenton, New Jersey.
The Sheriff's Office does not have a list, for general circulation, of the residential or commercial properties to be offered. Persons interested in 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 quotes). An opening bid of $100 is bid on the first round by the complainant. All subsequent bids must start at $100 over the upset and continue at $1,000.00 increments. The residential or commercial property is sold to the highest bidder.
The effective bidder, upon full payment of the bid, will receive a Sheriff's Deed. This deed does not give clear title to the residential or commercial property. In order to get 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 are interested in a specific piece of residential or commercial property, we advise a title search before you actually bid. Title searches are performed by personal firms. Their telephone numbers might be discovered in the yellow pages of the phone book. A charge is charged. You may likewise do your own title search.
If you are the effective bidder on a piece of residential or commercial property, you are needed to publish a deposit of 20% on the total bid rate. It should be paid by accredited check, treasurer's check, or cash. It must be paid instantly 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 fees should be paid by the buyer to the County Clerk's workplace when the deed is taped.
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 request an adjournment a defendant need to: be called on the Writ of Execution, show ID confirming identity and submit a letter requesting the adjournment with a fee of $28 in money, cash order or licensed check for EACH of his two adjournments. In the case of an accused'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 collected by the Sheriff's Office are committed the General Treasury of the County of Mercer.
To speed your questions on a specific piece of residential or commercial property, it is useful if you refer to the residential or commercial property by its address or docket number, which appears in the legal advertisement. Please feel totally free to call the Sheriff's Sales Office at (609) 989-6102, 847-3965, or 281-7212.
Sales are performed Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Sheriff Sale Procedures
- All foreclosures go through special conditions. The Sheriff's conditions are as follows:
- The greatest bidder to be the buyer.
- The purchaser needs to pay 20% of the purchase rate in cash, certified check, cashier's check, or treasurer's check, sometimes of purchase with balance due in thirty days.
- If the buyer fails to comply with any of the conditions of sale, the residential or commercial property will be offered a 2nd time, the former purchaser being delegated all losses and expenses, and deposit to be maintained by the Sheriff to be paid out by court order.
- Sold based on constraints of record which are unknown to me and unsettled taxes or evaluations and such state of truths as a precise survey would divulge.
- A deed to be delivered to the buyer within 2 week from date of sale, with legal interest determined on the balance due, from the 11th day after sale, up until balance is paid.
- Immediately upon the conclusion of sale, needs to the effective bidder fail to sign the conditions of sale and pay the 20% deposit as needed herein, the Sheriff shall instantly resell the residential or commercial property without further public ad.
- Sheriff's fee and commissions are taken from the struck off purchase rate. All Sheriff's Sales are sold subject to a first and second mortgage, if any, and any Municipal, State or Federal liens, if any.
The attorney representing the Plaintiff will have his own conditions of sale.
We strongly urge anybody who is not familiar with Sheriff's Sale Procedures to seek legal advice and to have a Title Search run 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 presume if he is the greatest 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 until the greatest bid is reached, and the highest bidder will be the purchaser. The Plaintiff's attorney normally does not enable the bid to go for less than the Judgment quantity due his client. He will bid up until he has actually reached his Upset Price. An Upset Price is the total of the Judgment due, interest, attorney's costs, Sheriff's costs, advertising costs and commissions. Once the lawyer has reached his Upset Price he may stop bidding and the greatest bidder, thereafter, will be the successful 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 promoted for four weeks every Tuesday in the Trenton Times and the Trentonian previous 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 attorney may adjourn as lot of times as is needed for any reason.
If you are preparing to go to a Sheriff's Sale, you need to inspect the Sales Notices posted on the internet site (click on this link) before or on sale date, to be sure the sale has actually not been adjourned, placed in Bankruptcy stay or cancelled.
This office will publish a notice of sale on the residential or commercial property throughout the week of the first advertising. Our office does not go into the premises being sold for any other reason. Until the sale is final, the accused (owner) has all rights and opportunities of 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 advised that he is on his own.
The owner of the residential or commercial property might at anytime, prior to sale, attempt to save his home or residential or commercial property in a number of methods. He may attempt to renew his delinquent amount owed, pay the judgment completely, obtain another loan, and so on. He may also attempt to sell the residential or commercial property in order to pay the Judgment and at the very same time make money from the earnings. The accused has a 10 day Redemption Period after the sale throughout which time he might challenge the sale through the courts or redeem the residential or commercial property. The bidder, in this case, would get his 20 percent deposit back.
The Sheriff's sale deed will be prepared and prepared in approximately 14 days after the sale. The balance due on the sale need to be paid no behind thirty 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 inform the owner he has actually purchased the residential or commercial property and now holds the deed to the residential or commercial property. If the accused does not voluntarily leave the residential or commercial property, the purchaser needs to apply to the court for a Writ of Possession. Our office will serve the Writ upon the defendant which will encourage him to vacate the premises within a specific duration of time. If the accused has not abandoned by the mentioned tentative date, the Sheriff's Office will set a final date to have a moving van sent out to the residential or commercial property and have the accused's personal possessions eliminated and stored in a place of safe keeping. The expenses of the moving and storage is the responsibility of the buyer. 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 specified as the amount of funds collected over the judgment quantity, costs, costs and commissions that are due to the complainant and Sheriff. Surplus funds are generated when a 3rd party purchaser purchases 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 offered to the defendant.
This can be established by inspecting if the amount 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 purchaser has paid the balance of the purchase rate, costs are subtracted, and all financial transactions are settled. This indicates that the funds are not readily available immediately following the sale, as there are instances when the Trust Fund Unit might 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 get in touch with 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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