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Tax Sale Atlas

Mercer County, NJ tax sales

Tax Sale Atlas maps the Mercer County, NJ tax sale, one of 3,105 counties in 49 states. New Jersey sells tax lien certificates paying up to 18%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus what the county publishes on Sep 28, 2026.

How tax lien sales work in Mercer County, seat of Trenton: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how New Jersey tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
Each municipality sets its own date.
Registration
Registration depends on the municipality.
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 28, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page
Look up a sale detail

Municipal tax collectors (each of Mercer County's 12 municipalities holds its own sale). annual

Record quality: medium. Last verified: 2026-09-28.

Tax Sale Information, Ewing Township Tax Collector (source accessed 2026-09-28)

Recorded reference information. Verify current sale conditions with the county. Read the full sale details.

Link to this detail

How Mercer County sells delinquent taxes

From lien to deed

New Jersey holds no tax deed auction. A certificate holder who is not redeemed files an action in the Superior Court to foreclose the right of redemption: a private purchaser at any time after two years from the sale, the municipality (or anyone who takes the certificate from it by assignment or transfer) after six months, and any holder at any time if the property meets the statutory definition of abandoned property. Judgment bars redemption and vests title in the holder. Since P.L.2024, c.39 the owner or the owner's heirs may, before final judgment, demand that the foreclosure proceed by a sheriff's sale or a sheriff's Internet auction to preserve equity; that sale is run by the county sheriff and is a foreclosure sale of one parcel, not a tax sale, so a sheriff's sale listing is never the date of a municipality's certificate sale. Separately, a municipality holding its own certificates may foreclose by an in rem action once more than six months have passed since the sale and 21 months of taxes are unpaid.

Tax certificate sale (lien)

Run by
Municipal tax collectors (each of Mercer County's 12 municipalities holds its own sale)
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
Each municipality sets its own date.
Registration
Registration depends on the municipality.
When it runs
Each municipality sets its own date. Several Mercer towns sell late in the year: Ewing Township held its sale of 2025 delinquent taxes and sewer on December 30, 2025, West Windsor held its 2025 lien sale on December 11, 2025, and Lawrence Township says its sale 'is normally held in the last quarter of the year.' Hightstown Borough held its 2026 sale on September 25, 2026, and Hopewell Township has scheduled its 2026 sale for October 23, 2026.
Registration and deposit

Registration depends on the municipality. Towns that sell online (Hamilton, Trenton, Ewing, West Windsor, East Windsor, Robbinsville) require an account on that town's own newjerseytaxsale.com site. West Windsor's 2025 rules required a 10% deposit of intended winnings (minimum $1,000) by ACH before the sale and payment of winning bids by wire on sale day. Towns that sell in person (Hightstown, Hopewell Township) take payment before the sale concludes in cash, money order or certified or bank check only.

Sale format and venue
New Jersey tax sale certificates in Mercer County are sold by each municipal tax collector, not by the county, so there is no single county sale date, platform or list. Bidding starts at 18% interest and goes down; once it reaches 0%, bidders compete on a cash premium. Six towns (Hamilton, Trenton, Ewing, West Windsor, East Windsor, Robbinsville) run online auctions on their own RealAuction newjerseytaxsale.com sites, where each town's sale list is posted; Hightstown and Hopewell Township hold live auctions at their municipal buildings and publish their lists as legal notices. Robbinsville advises that a certificate be recorded with the Mercer County Clerk within 90 days of the sale. Towns without a posted notice publish their sale list in the local newspaper and at the collector's office.
Source: Tax Sale Information, Ewing Township Tax Collector· Verified Sep 28, 2026

Mercer County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Mercer County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Each city or town sells separately and posts its own list. The municipal notes on this page say where each one appears.

  2. Register to bid

    Registration depends on the municipality. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Each municipality sets its own date. Each city or town picks its own platform or in-person venue. Confirm the date and registration window with that town’s collector before you bid.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Municipal tax collectors (each of Mercer County's 12 municipalities holds its own sale) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Mercer County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    There is no county list: each town posts its own. Get the list from the town whose sale you plan to attend and confirm the advertised parcels with its collector before you price a bid.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Registration depends on the municipality. Towns that sell online (Hamilton, Trenton, Ewing, West Windsor, East Windsor, Robbinsville) require an account on that town's own newjerseytaxsale.com site. West Windsor's 2025 rules required a 10% deposit of intended winnings (minimum $1,000) by ACH before the sale and payment of winning bids by wire on sale day. Towns that sell in person (Hightstown, Hopewell Township) take payment before the sale concludes in cash, money order or certified or bank check only.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the New Jersey due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  4. Set a walk-away number

    Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.

Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases

Certificates on parcels that drew no bid are struck off to the municipality at 18 percent. A municipality's governing body may later sell a certificate it holds by assignment or at a separate public sale, at its discretion. Ask the tax collector of the specific municipality.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what New Jersey calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Municipal Tax Collectors, Mercer County (one per municipality)

County notes

  • Mercer County has 12 municipalities, and each municipal tax collector runs its own tax sale certificate auction. The county holds no sale.
  • Hamilton Township: its 2025 sale of delinquent taxes, sewer and other municipal charges ran as an online auction, and the parcel list is posted free on hamilton-mercer.newjerseytaxsale.com. Tax Collector, 2090 Greenwood Avenue, 609-890-3896.
  • City of Trenton: the Division of Tax holds an annual tax sale through trenton.newjerseytaxsale.com. Division of Tax, 319 E State Street, Trenton, 609-989-3070.
  • Ewing Township: the sale of 2025 delinquent taxes and sewer was held online on December 30, 2025 at ewing.newjerseytaxsale.com, and the sale list by block and lot is posted on the township's Tax Sale Information page. Tax Collector, 609-883-2900 ext. 7607.
  • West Windsor Township: the 2025 lien sale was held online on December 11, 2025 at westwindsor.newjerseytaxsale.com, where the list and results are posted. Buyers posted a 10% deposit (minimum $1,000) by ACH, bid in 1% steps and then $100 premium steps, and paid winning bids by wire the same day.
  • West Windsor Township: charges not paid by November 11 are subject to tax sale. Tax Collector, PO Box 38, West Windsor, NJ 08550; township offices 609-799-2400.
  • Hightstown Borough: the 2026 sale was held in person on Friday, September 25, 2026 at 10:00 AM at the Public Works Garage, 156 Bank Street. The list was published in TAPinto East Windsor/Hightstown and posted as a borough notice; payment in cash, certified check or money order only. Collector, 609-490-5100 ext. 613.
  • Hopewell Township: the 2026 sale is an in-person auction on Friday, October 23, 2026 at 9:00 AM at the Municipal Building, 201 Washington Crossing-Pennington Road, Titusville. The list is in the 2026 Delinquent Tax Sale Notice on the Tax Collector page; payment in cash, money order or certified or bank check. Tax Collector, 609-537-0261.
  • East Windsor Township: sells certificates through eastwindsor.newjerseytaxsale.com, where its list is posted at sale time, and a Tax Sale Bidders Packet is on the Tax Collector page. Tax Collector, 16 Lanning Boulevard, (609) 443-4000 ext. 430.
  • Robbinsville Township: sells certificates through robbinsville.newjerseytaxsale.com, where its list is posted at sale time. Contact the Tax Collector for local payment rules before bidding; township offices, 2300 Route 33, (609) 259-3600.
  • Lawrence Township: the sale is normally held in the last quarter of the year. Tax Collector, 2207 Lawrenceville Road, 609-844-7041.
  • Princeton, Pennington Borough and Hopewell Borough post no sale date online. Their sale notices and lists appear in the local newspaper and at each collector's office; Princeton Tax Collection is at 400 Witherspoon Street, 609-924-1058.

New Jersey rules

Max interest rate
18% per year, bid down at auction
Minimum return
2 to 6% one-time penalty at redemption, by certificate size, added to the interest
Redemption
The right to redeem lasts until it is cut off by a foreclosure judgment, not for a fixed term. 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.
Surplus proceeds
Surplus arises only from a sheriff's sale or Internet auction demanded by the owner under N.J.S.A. 54:5-87(b). The sheriff deducts the cost of the sale and deposits the surplus with the Clerk of the Superior Court, and the owner or heirs claim it by motion under N.J.S.2A:50-37 and the Rules of Court; that is the exclusive route. If the owner does not demand a sale, the holder may foreclose without one and the owner has no claim against the holder for any equity. In an abandoned-property foreclosure the court may bar claims to surplus equity and no sheriff's sale is required.
Governing statute
N.J.S.A. Title 54, Chapter 5

A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.

See the full New Jerseyrules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Mercer County, New Jersey sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax lien certificates. In New Jersey investors buy the lien, not the property; the Municipal tax collector runs the sale.

When is the Mercer County tax certificate sale?

Each municipality sets its own date. Several Mercer towns sell late in the year: Ewing Township held its sale of 2025 delinquent taxes and sewer on December 30, 2025, West Windsor held its 2025 lien sale on December 11, 2025, and Lawrence Township says its sale 'is normally held in the last quarter of the year.' Hightstown Borough held its 2026 sale on September 25, 2026, and Hopewell Township has scheduled its 2026 sale for October 23, 2026. Always confirm the exact date with the Municipal tax collector before the sale.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. New Jersey's redemption rule: 2 years from the sale before a private certificate holder can file to foreclose; the owner can redeem until the court's final judgment. Call the Municipal tax collectors (each of Mercer County's 12 municipalities holds its own sale) as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Verified Sep 28, 2026 against official county and state sources.

Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.

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