How Much Notice Will You Get Before Your Property is Sold at a Sheriff Sale in New Jersey?

A sheriff’s sale is the sale of a repossessed property by law enforcement. Many individuals can be dismayed when a sale of their property takes place after it has been possessed. It can feel like the final nail in the coffin for ever having a chance at getting your property back. Moreover, a sheriff’s sale may come as a surprise if you do not know what to look for to figure out if a sheriff’s sale could be in your future.

You do not need to be given notice that a sale of your foreclosed property is taking place until ten days before the actual sale. However, there are a lot of other notices that happen beforehand which, if you know what you are looking for, can indicate the potential for a future Sherrif’s sale of your property.

If you are concerned about an impending sheriff’s sale, call our New Jersey foreclosure attorneys from Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates at (609) 755-3115.

When Will I Learn that a Sheriff’s Sale is Happening in New Jersey?

If your property is going to be sold at a sheriff’s sale in New Jersey, you will be informed of the sale at least ten days before the sale takes place per N.J. Ct. R. 4.65-2. The notice will be sent in the mail to you so that you know when the sale is going to take place. However, there will also be other notices before the “final” notice ten days prior to the sale. These notices do not necessarily have to be sent to you directly. They may act as “constructive notice,” where the information is available but you have to go looking for it.

Will I Get Notifications Before a Sheriff’s Sale in New Jersey?

There are other ways to know that a sheriff’s sale may be in your future in New Jersey. Many things have to happen before a property goes up for sale in this way, but in most cases, it should not be terribly surprising that a sheriff’s sale is in the future.

Sheriff’s sales are auctions of foreclosed properties. Therefore, a foreclosure has to have happened before a sheriff’s sale can take place. The fact that a foreclosure needs to take place beforehand gives many opportunities to receive notice that a sheriff’s sale could be in the future.

First, the lender cannot do anything regarding foreclosure proceedings before letting you know that something has gone wrong. Per 12 U.S.C. § 3708, your lender has to contact you within 45 days of your first missed payment on a mortgage. This is potentially the first notice that many people get of an impending foreclosure and subsequent sheriff’s sale. While lenders are not required to do so, they may also give subsequent notices that you have missed mortgage payments before initiating foreclosure, which can provide even more awareness that the property could be sold off.

Can I Delay a Sheriff’s Sale of My Property in New Jersey?

In New Jersey, homeowners are allowed to delay a sheriff’s sale of their property up to two times. Delaying a sheriff’s sale is also known as an “adjournment.” A property can be adjourned up to five times per N.J.S.A. § 2A:17-36: twice by the lender, twice by the debtor, and once upon agreement by both the lender and the debtor. Each adjournment cannot last longer than 30 days.

Stopping a Sheriff’s Sale in New Jersey

There are a couple of ways that you can stop a sheriff’s sale in New Jersey. Some of these methods are employed before your property is foreclosed on, while others can be used later in the process.

Redemption

Property owners have something called a “right of redemption,” which they can exercise for ten days following a sheriff’s sale of their property. The right of redemption is the ability of the property owner to reclaim their property by paying all outstanding balances all at once. The property owner must pay any unpaid debts from their mortgage, the cost of going through foreclosure, and the cost of putting the property up for sale. This can be a lot of capital to come up with. You should discuss your situation with our New Jersey foreclosure defense lawyers to determine if exercising a right of redemption makes sense for you.

Curing Under the Mortgage

Most mortgages have a time period within which you can “cure” a default or missed payment. If you can make the payment to your lender in that timeframe, they cannot foreclose on your property, and there, therefore, cannot be a subsequent sheriff’s sale.

Bankruptcy

If you file bankruptcy while the foreclosure process is ongoing, it can stop it in its tracks. This is because, when you file bankruptcy, something called an “automatic stay” is put in place, which instantly stops all debt collection efforts against you, including foreclosure proceedings. This can prevent a sheriff’s sale from happening, at least until bankruptcy proceedings have ended. However, this only works if a foreclosure is ongoing. If you file for bankruptcy during a sheriff’s sale, it is not as effective.

Injunctions

Another way to stop a sheriff’s sale is to ask the court for injunctive relief. An injunction is an official court order preventing something from happening. For an injunction to work, our attorneys have to convince the court that we would be likely to win at trial, and we would also need to show that failure to put the injunction in place would be unfair under the law. It may make sense to file an injunction to prevent a sheriff’s sale in your case, depending on the circumstances.

Talk to Our New Jersey Foreclosure and Sheriff’s Sale Lawyer Today

Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates has Cherry Hill, NJ  foreclosure defense lawyers ready to help you out when you call us at (609) 755-3115.