New Jersey Tax Lien Certificate Sales

What varies by parcel is how soon the holder may start that action: two years after the sale for a private purchaser, six months for the municipality or its assignee, and any time for abandoned property. Once a foreclosure complaint is filed and notice of it is filed with the tax collector, redemption is made in that court action and carries the court-fixed attorney's fees and costs. All other redemptions must go through the municipal tax collector's office; a lienholder who knowingly takes a redemption outside that office forfeits the certificate.N.J.S.A. 54:5-86 - Action by municipality to foreclose right of redemption (New Jersey Legislature statutes database)N.J.S.A. 54:5-86Verified Sep 27, 2026

The governing body may charge delinquency interest of up to 8 percent a year on the first $1,500 and 18 percent a year on any amount above $1,500. Taxes are a continuous lien on the land, and later taxes, interest, penalties and costs are added to it. Every municipal lien is a first lien, paramount to prior or later encumbrances except later municipal liens. Unpaid taxes still in arrears at the close of the fiscal year must be enforced by a standard tax sale in the following fiscal year; a municipality may instead hold an accelerated sale in the last month of the same fiscal year for arrears outstanding on the 11th day of the eleventh month.N.J.S.A. 54:4-66 - When calendar year taxes payable, delinquent (New Jersey Legislature statutes database)N.J.S.A. 54:4-66Verified Sep 27, 2026

The municipality's governing body may later, by resolution, sell a certificate it holds by private sale through an assignment, for not less than the liens charged against the property (or not less than the assessed value where the liens exceed it), or offer held certificates at a separate public sale to the highest bidder, sometimes for less than the amount due. This is at the governing body's discretion, not a standing over-the-counter right, and a buyer at a 54:5-114.2 public sale must foreclose and record final judgment within two years of confirmation or lose the purchase. Assignments must be recorded with the county clerk and served on the tax collector.N.J.S.A. 54:5-113 - Private sale of certificate of tax sale by municipality; recording of assignments, service on tax collector (New Jersey Legislature statutes database)N.J.S.A. 54:5-113Verified Sep 27, 2026