A Home Owner Is Entitled To Two Adjournments of A Sheriff Sale Simply By Requesting One and Paying A Small Fee to The Sheriff’s Office. Here’s How to Stop or Adjourn A Sheriff Sale.
Scroll down to get an easy-to-use form to stop your sheriff sale right now.
It takes a long time in New Jersey to foreclosure on a home in New Jersey but ultimately, if the loan can’t be worked-out and brought current through a loan modification or a bankruptcy, most foreclosure cases end at a Sheriff sale.
You may find you need to stop or adjourn a sheriff sale to get more time to work-out a foreclosure or sell your house.
You are entitled to two adjournments for any or no reason. But only two.
An adjournment is lawyer-speak for temporarily stopping and postponing a court action or hearing, in this case, a sheriff sale.
In a New Jersey foreclosure case once the plaintiff (your mortgage lender) has obtained final judgment, a sheriff sale may be scheduled.
The sheriff sale may be adjourned (postponed) by either the lender’s attorney or by you the homeowner.
Prior to 2019, the plaintiff was entitled to adjourn a Sheriff sale as may times as it wanted to for any or no reason but this rule was updated and now the attorney for the lender can only adjourn twice. You, the defendant (the home owner), have always been limited to two adjournments for any or no reason for two weeks each, however, also in 2019, the two weeks was updated to 30 days for each adjournment.
You have two 30-day adjournments available to. But once they have been used, they are gone forever.
This law was updated on April 29, 2019 and goes into effect on July 30 2019 changing the two week adjournments to 30-day adjournments – See the full article here on this and other foreclosure laws that have been amended in New Jersey.
In March 2020, Governor Murphy signed an executive order staying all evictions indefinitely.
Moratoriums Lifted November 2021.
In March 2020, Governor Murphy signed an executive order staying all evictions, and therefore sheriff sales, indefinitely for the COVID pandemic. As of November 2021, the moratorium has been lifted and sheriff sales are now again permitted.
As of January 2022, we have been overwhelmed with calls to adjourn or otherwise stop sheriff sales.
How Do I Get My Two Adjournments?
I have found over the years that all of the 21 County Sheriff offices across the State are staffed by extremely helpful individuals who make getting an adjournment easy.
Each County has its own procedures and sets its own costs to request an adjournment but generally speaking, there is a small fee – usually $28 – to request an adjournment and it must be done in person (so you can pay the fee).
You must have all of the information for the property and the sheriff sale listing and the docket number and Sheriff sale number and property address and the date of the sale and simply asking for the adjournment.
Some Sheriff offices have a simple form which you can fill-out and give to the Sheriff’s representative to request the adjournment.
We created an easy-to-use form for you.
So that you will have all of the necessary information with you when you arrive at the sheriff office, we created an easy-to-use form for you so you can get the sheriff sale adjourned quickly and easily.
Get your adjournment form here:
Submit your information here. The form will be emailed to you right away and can be used in every County in New Jersey.
What Happens After I have Used My Two Adjournments?
Once you have taken your two adjournments, there are no more adjournments without asking a judge to intervene.
Motion to Stay A Sheriff Sale
If you have a very good reason, you may be able to ask a Judge by formally petitioning the Court and showing “good cause.”
For example, if you have a contract to sell your house and there will be enough money from the sale to pay-off the lender and some left over for you because you have equity in your house, that may be “good cause.”
If it becomes necessary to request and adjournment beyond the two 2-week adjournments, a formal request to the Court , known as a “motion” can be made but it must be for good cause.
This is something better done by a lawyer and typically can be a little costly. This additional adjournment is at the discretion of the judge and is only going to be granted for a very valid reason.
Homes Have Increased In Value Over the Last Year Creating Equity.
If your home can be sold for more than what you owe the lender, you may have equity in your property that you can’t afford to lose.
During this past year, home prices have soared in many towns in New Jersey creating equity that did not exist before.
Sell Your Home To Save Your Equity.
The recent increase in home values has provided an alternative to foreclosure that hasn’t existed in the past several years.
If your home can be sold at a price that can pay-off the loan and leave you with some money after closing, the option of perhaps selling your home may be a good option for you.
Get time to sell the house but only if you really have a legitimate contract.
There are many investors who are looking for properties to purchase and flip.
You may be approached by a real estate agent or investor on the eve of a sheriff sale offering to purchase your home. If so, you may need our help to review the contract quickly.
If you have a signed contract and can show a judge that your buyer has the funds to close and your lender will be paid in full and you will come out with some money too, the judge may adjourn the sherif sale to provide you and the buyer the time to get the house sold.
If you are approached by a buyer at the last minute, contact us right away to review the contract and petition the court for more time.
