Back in the day, the word foreclosure was considered a taboo. Much like divorce, It was expected that you would work through your problems and figure it out. Only a quitter would walk away. Short sales have been around just as long as loaning money has. Before all the government red tape, foreclosing was a much quicker process. Repossessing anything was considerably easier. If you’d didn’t pay, it was taken back.
Fast forward to today’s world… it takes a long time to take anything back for non payment. And a foreclosure… in New Jersey? Yes, your looking at years unfortunately. But why?
New Jersey is a judicial state. There is a process that a lender, Regardless of who is lending, must go through if they want to foreclose. The concept may be simple… you didn’t pay, so give back what you didn’t pay for. But the process is arduous for a lender. To start, a lender can’t start a foreclosure filing until you have been in default at least three and a half months. Most don’t get around to starting the paperwork filing for sometimes a couple of months after that. Then there is a process of notices they must send over a period of time. And that is it takes so long. And if you add in other reasons such as disputes on the filing, bankruptcy filing and the process takes longer.
If you are the homeowner in default, the lender would rather you stay in the property and maintain it than vacate. Vacant properties get vandalized and deferred maintenance happens. These things cause more cost to the lender than they would like.
Even if the property goes through the sheriff sale date (the end of the foreclosure process), it will still take them a couple of days to knock on your door and work out a plan for you to vacate.
In my opinion, I don’t see the process shortening anytime soon. And with the current backlog, it takes an average of 1100+ days to foreclose in NJ.
This blog, JerseyGirlForeclosures.com is based on the opinion and expertise of the blogger, Lisa G Lopez. Ms Lopez is not an attorney. This blog post should not be considered legal advice. If you need legal advice, please seek legal counsel.
