Form and effect of judgment

# (a)

In an action commenced by any person or a municipality holding a tax sale certificate for an abandoned property pursuant to subsection b. of R.S.54:5-86, the judgment shall give full and complete relief, in accordance with the provisions of P.L.1948, c.96 (C.54:5-104.29 et seq.), and in accordance with any other statutory authority, to bar the right of redemption, to bar claims to surplus equity, to foreclose all prior or subsequent alienations and descents of the lands and encumbrances thereon, and to adjudge an absolute and indefeasible estate of inheritance in fee simple in the lands therein described, to be vested in the plaintiff, except as set forth in subsection d. of this section.

# (b)

Such judgment shall be binding and final upon all persons having a vested or contingent title or interest in, lien, or claim upon or against said lands, including the State of New Jersey, and any agency and political subdivision thereof, and their heirs, devisees, and personal representatives, and their or any of their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators, grantees, assigns, or successors in right, title, or interest, notwithstanding any infancy or incompetency of such person or persons, and upon all other persons, their heirs, devisees, and personal representatives and their or any of their heirs, devisees, executors, administrators, grantees, assigns, or successors in right, title, or interest.

An action brought by the holder of a tax sale certificate for an abandoned property shall not require a judicial sale as in the manner of the foreclosure of a mortgage or an Internet auction through the office of the county sheriff.

# (c)

In the event that any federal statute or regulation requires a judicial sale as in the manner of the foreclosure of a mortgage of the property in order to debar and foreclose a mortgage interest or any other lien held by the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof, then the tax lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as a mortgage, and the final judgment shall provide for the issuance of a writ of execution to the sheriff of the county wherein the property is situated and the holding of a judicial sale as in the manner of the foreclosure of a mortgage.

# (d)

In an action brought by a municipality, in order to preserve any equity that may exist in the property being foreclosed, the owner, or the owner's heirs, shall have the right to demand, by written request to the Superior Court before the date that final judgment is entered, that the municipal tax sale certificate be foreclosed with a judicial sale as in the manner of the foreclosure of a mortgage of the property through the office of the county sheriff, or, in the alternative, an Internet auction of the property through the office of the county sheriff. If there is more than one schedule in the in rem foreclosure complaint and a request is made for a judicial sale or an Internet auction, the schedule shall be severed and the final judgment shall provide for a writ of execution to the sheriff of the county where the property is located and the holding of either a judicial sale or an Internet auction, as appropriate.

In the event that the owner or the owner's heirs do not demand a judicial sale as in the manner of the foreclosure of a mortgage, or an Internet auction through the office of the county sheriff, the municipality may proceed in rem without a judicial sale or an Internet auction, and the owner or his heirs shall have no claim against the municipality for any loss of equity in the property. The amount received at a judicial sale or an Internet auction shall be conclusively presumed to be the fair market value of the property. In the event that no one bids at the judicial sale or the Internet auction above the amount to redeem, or there is no bidding at all, it shall be conclusively presumed that there is no equity in the property.

The sheriff of the county shall deposit with the clerk of the Superior Court any surplus funds derived from the judicial sale or the Internet auction, after all of the costs to the office of the county sheriff for holding the judicial sale or the Internet auction have been withheld by the sheriff from those funds of the sale, after paying the amount of the judgment plus any costs to the municipality.

Application for and distribution of surplus moneys held by the clerk of court shall be made in accordance with N.J.S.2A:50-37 and the applicable Rules of Court.

As used in this subsection, "surplus funds" shall have the same meaning as set forth in R.S.54:5-87.

L.1948,c.96,s.36; amended 1953,c.51,s.88; 1995,c.326,s.3; 2024, c.39, s.9.