Post COVID-19 Forbearance
New Jersey Foreclosures and
Sheriff Sales: How to Save Your Home
Through Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Sheriff’s Sales Resumed on September 7, 2021 in New Jersey

As of September 7, 2021 Sheriff Sales have resumed in New Jersey. If you receive a notice of a Sheriff Sale date, get in touch if you would like to save your home. Your options include:

• Stopping the Sheriff Sale by filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy filing puts in place an Automatic Stay. The Automatic Stay stops the Sheriff Sale from taking place.

Options after the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is filed include:

• Resumption of your regular contractual mortgage payment as of your case filing date. The mortgage arrears are amortized out over 36-60 months.
• Through the Bankruptcy Court’s Loss Mitigation Program, you are offered the opportunity to apply for a loan modification while the Sheriff Sale is on hold. Pending the loan modification review you must make Adequate Protection (Good Faith) payments to your mortgage lender. The Adequate Protection payment is 60% of your current Principal and Interest Payment plus 100% of your Escrow (Taxes and Insurance).
• Once the Sheriff’s Sale is on hold, if you decide to sell your home, there is the possibility of doing so on your own, with a realtor of your choice instead of losing it to a Sheriff’s Sale. Selling your home must be done expeditiously while under the protection of the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Urgency is required because your mortgage lender must see that you are making a good faith effort to sell the property. Otherwise, the lender will file a Motion for Relief From Stay (MFR). A MFR, in plain English, is your mortgage lender or another creditor requesting that your house be removed from the Automatic Stay afforded by the bankruptcy filing and relisted for Sheriff Sale.