Homes, businesses and properties in foreclosure are subject to auction pursuant to court order. Sheriff’s Sales are held as an open auction every Monday at 2:00 p.m. in the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Center, 2500 Kozloski Road, Freehold, NJ 07728. If a holiday occurs on a Monday, sales will take place on Tuesday at the same time and place.

All sales are subject to a first mortgage, and also municipal, state or federal liens, if any. A title search will reveal this information and it is advised that this search be conducted prior to the purchase of any property as the purchaser must assume these liabilities. An attorney will be able to advise you as to title search procedures.

Inspections of the property is not permitted. The defendants do, however, have the right to sell their home prior to the sale and any arrangements made with them will have to be done other than through our office. The property can be redeemed by the owner up to 10 days after the sale.

All sales are published for four consecutive weeks prior to the originally scheduled sale date in two Monmouth County newspapers. They can also be found in the Star Ledger, usually the Wednesday edition. Or online at the Star Ledger website at http://www.nj.com/classifieds/notices/

Please be advised that a sale can be adjourned, settled, cancelled or bankrupt at any time and it is, therefore, advisable to log onto the Sheriff’s Office website at www.mcsonj.org to determine whether or not a sale is still scheduled.

If you do not have access to the internet, an updated list is available for public view Monday through Friday, 8:30AM-4:30PM at the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Building, 2500 Kozloski Road, Freehold, NJ 07728. Please ask for the Foreclosure Sales List at the front desk.

You can contact our office via phone for sale information.

At the time of the sale, the attorney for the Plaintiff will open the bidding at $1,000.00. Bidding will continue in $1,000.00 increments until the highest bid is reached. The successful bidder shall produce 20% of the bid as a deposit at the auction via cashier’s check, certified check or cash (with a limit of $1,000) and the balance will be due in 30 days. The Plaintiff’s representative will announce the upset amount (least amount that will be accepted) at the time of the auction.

If a petition in bankruptcy is filed after the sale occurs, the purchaser’s deposit will not be returned to the purchaser. The Sheriff will hold the deposit without interest until further directed by the Court or upon consent of counsel.

If for any reason the purchaser refuses or is unable to pay the balance of the bid within 30 days after the sale, the property will be re-advertised and re-sold at the purchaser’s expense. Failure to pay the balance of the bid will result in deposit money being retained by the Sheriff’s Office to be released by the direction of a consent order as liquidated damages.

The purchaser may take possession of the deed after the passing of the 10 day redemption period and upon payment of the balance of the bid unless an objection to the sale is served upon the Sheriff prior to the delivery of the deed. In the event of a redemption, the purchaser will be refunded the full amount of the deposit. If the purchaser is in need of an extension of time to pay the balance of the bid, this additional time may be granted by the Plaintiff.

It is the purchaser’s responsibility to record the deed at the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office and pay any real estate transfer fees. It is also the responsibility of the purchaser to notify an occupant, if any, that the property has transferred title and that the premises must be vacated. If an occupant does not voluntarily comply with the request, the purchaser must apply to the Court for a Writ of Possession. Our office will serve the Writ upon the occupant which will advise him/her to vacate the premises by the stated date. The attorney for the purchaser must set a date to have a moving van sent to the property; remove the occupant’s personal belongings; and, store those belongings in a place of safe keeping.

Surplus Funds are defined as the amount of funds collected over the judgment amount, fees, costs and commissions that are due to the plaintiff and Sheriff. The main function of surplus funds is to pay any junior lien holders. Any funds left over after these lien holders are paid are available to the homeowner.

From our current list, you can ascertain if there are surplus funds by checking if the amount the property was sold for is more than the amount in the judgment column. An example of this would be: Sold for is $150,000 & Judgment is $130,000; it’s safe to assume that there would be some surplus available.

Funds are sent to the NJ Superior Court, c/o Trust Fund Unit after the purchaser has paid the balance of the purchase price. This means that the funds are not readily available immediately following the sale, homeowners must petition the NJ Superior Court for any surplus monies, on a first-come first-serve basis.

If you are the homeowner in a foreclosure in our office and you believe there is surplus from the sale of your home you can contact our office or you can contact the Trust Fund Unit of the New Jersey Superior Court at 609-421-6100.

Bankrupt: Mortgagor has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Cancelled: Sale withdrawn.
Redeemed: Judgment is paid off within 10 days of sale.
Reinstated: Arrearages have been paid and mortgage is now current.
Settled: Mortgage has been paid and the file has been closed.
Sold: The property has been sold back to the plaintiff.
Third-Party Purchase: A third party has purchased the property
In all above instances, property is NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
On for (date): The auction for this property will occur on this new date.