Timeline: 90 Days
Redemption: 10 days after sale
Deficiency Judgments: Yes
Judicial Foreclosure: Yes
Non-Judicial Foreclosure: No
Security Instruments: Mortgage

New Jersey foreclosure law allows lender to use the Judicial Foreclosure process only. The original loan documents will not contain a “power of sale” clause that authorizes the lender to sell the home if the borrower defaults on the loan. The lender must file a complaint against the borrower with the superior court in the county in which the property is located. A lis pendens must be recorded.
The lender can only sue for the amount in default; the existing mortgage is left unaffected. If the lender pursues this option, there is no right to sue the borrower for a deficiency judgment.

New Jersey law requires that the borrower be offered a final chance to cure the default. A notice of intent to enter a judgment of foreclosure is filed and sent to the borrower. If the borrower does not respond, a foreclosure judgment is recorded, and a writ of execution is sent to the county sheriff. The sheriff then schedules a sale date for the property. At least ten (10) days before the sale, the borrower must be notified of the sale.
The notice of sale must be published in two newspapers of general circulation. One of them must be in the county seat or largest municipality in the county. The notice also must be posted in offices of the county and on the subject property.
The sheriff or another county officer conducts the sale, and the high bidder must pay all settlement charges to the sheriff within thirty (30) days of the sale. If this does not happen, the sale may be declared null and void.
The borrower has a ten (10) day right of redemption after the sale in which he can redeem the property or object to the sale. If the borrower objects to the sale, the redemption period lasts until the sale is confirmed or until the court rules on the objection.
Within three (3) months of the sale, the lender may sue the borrower for a deficiency judgment. If the lender sues for a deficiency judgment, the borrower is given the right to bring an action to redeem the property within six (6) months of the date that the deficiency judgment is entered.