In the last five years, initially in 2019 and more recently as of January 2024, New Jersey has enacted major changes to the sheriff’s foreclosure sale process. The primary purpose, as expressly stated in the legislative history and reflected in the lion’s share of changes made, has been for increased protection for residential homeowners with mortgages on their primary residences. However, some of the changes also affect sheriff’s foreclosure sales of non-residential properties. This article briefly summarizes the major changes and notes some of the ways this practice area has changed and may continue to change going forward.

The 2019 Amendment

In 2019, the New Jersey legislature adopted several significant changes to the state’s foreclosure laws, particularly as concerns the procedures for a sheriff’s sale. The amendments of N.J.S.A. 2A:50-64 and N.J.S.A. 2A:17-36 codified certain administrative procedures to the foreclosure sale process stemming from the increased foreclosures arising primarily out of the 2008 financial crisis. The amendments attempted to rectify various issues raised by the uptick in the amount of abandoned blighted properties.