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How Long Does it Take to Foreclose on a House in NJ?

The bank cannot take your house overnight, even if you default on your mortgage loan in New Jersey.

It can take banks months, sometimes years, to get their foreclosure complaints granted by judges in New Jersey. The first step in the process is sending a notice of intent to a homeowner, after which the homeowner has about a month to respond. The case might go to court if they cannot cure their mortgage or get the lender to agree to loan modification. During court appearances, our lawyers can explain why the bank has no legal standing to repossess your property, whether because of predatory lending or lending law violations. Many lenders are willing to negotiate alternatives to foreclosure and to get paid faster, and our lawyers can exhaust all loss mitigation options to prevent foreclosure from commencing.

Call Young, Marr, Mallis & Associates today at (609) 755-3115 for a free and confidential case assessment from our New Jersey foreclosure defense lawyers.

How Long Do Judicial Mortgage Foreclosures Take in New Jersey?

All foreclosures in New Jersey are judicial, so they occur in court before a judge. Because of this, the process can take a very long time, sometimes years. While the entire process may take a long time, the initial stages go relatively quickly, and our lawyers can help you prepare.

Since foreclosures happen in court, cases must reach the court docket, and judges must hear them. Waiting for your case to be heard can take time in and of itself, sometimes weeks or months. Granting foreclosures has serious implications in that mortgagees will lose their homes, and the fact that a judge must approve foreclosure may bode well for victims, who may be able to remain in their homes throughout a case.

When making a judgment, the judge will determine if you defaulted and, if so, why. Undue financial hardship because of a recent death, medical condition, or job loss might weigh into the judge’s decision, as well as the original terms of the loan and the information the lender considered when providing it. For example, if your original monthly payments were too high based on your reported income at the time, the judge may agree that your lender was predatory and thus may not take your home.

Depending on the case, it may benefit homeowners to speed up or slow down the mortgage foreclosure process. For example, suppose your lender was predatory, and there is evidence to support those arguments. In that case, we may want to get your case in front of a judge immediately so they can quickly dismiss the foreclosure petition. If a bank has standing to foreclose because you are in default, slowing down the case may benefit you, as the bank may be more likely to negotiate an alternative arrangement and save the time and resources associated with a lengthy foreclosure case.

You must respond to a notice of intent from your bank quickly and seriously. Failure to do so within about 30 days could give the judge little to no choice but to side with your lender, letting them proceed with foreclosure and an auction.

How Long Can You Miss Payments Before Your Bank Starts Foreclosure in New Jersey?

Before a lender can file a foreclosure petition in court in New Jersey, the homeowner must be delinquent for a certain period of time, and the bank must inform the homeowner of their delinquency and its intent to foreclose. The bank can file its foreclosure complaint in court 30 days after sending you a notice of intent to foreclose.

Generally speaking, lenders may send a notice of intent to foreclose letter to a borrower who is more than 120 days behind on mortgage payments. If you miss payments for just a few months, your bank might initiate foreclosure. If you anticipate facing foreclosure because you have missed multiple payments recently, our New Jersey foreclosure defense lawyers can draft a response to a notice of intent before you receive one.

Our lawyers will then have about a month to respond to the notice; during this period, we may explore loss mitigation options that enable you to keep your home and avoid the other negative consequences of foreclosure, like the considerable hit to your credit. If a foreclosure complaint goes uncontested because the homeowner does not respond within 30 days, the judge assigned to the case may grant the bank’s request to foreclose, and a sheriff’s sale would follow soon after.

How Long Will Most Lenders Negotiate Alternatives to Mortgage Foreclosure in New Jersey?

Immediately after you receive a notice of intent to foreclose, our lawyers can review your mortgage agreement, payment terms, missed payments, income, expenses, and other information. We can evaluate the initial loan’s fairness and identify foreclosure alternatives through loss mitigation.

Banks often want to avoid the foreclosure process if possible because it is costly and time-consuming for them as well. With this in mind, our lawyers can approach your lender with proposed alterations to the current loan agreement. For example, the bank might agree to extend your loan terms in exchange for smaller, more manageable monthly payments. Furthermore, we may design a repayment plan to address missed mortgage payments so that you do not fall further behind and risk facing foreclosure again shortly.

Depending on how much you owe, your lender might only negotiate for a short time, especially if it believes it has a strong case to foreclose on your property. In these situations, a quick solution may be to file for bankruptcy, which can let you settle debts with your lender while keeping your home.