Essex County Property Records in New Jersey

An Essex County title search examines the recorded chain of deeds at the Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages to confirm who owns a property and how title is held, identifies every open mortgage and lien, confirms that paid loans have been discharged, searches the Superior Court for judgments and any foreclosure, and checks the municipal tax records for delinquencies and any recorded tax sale certificate, which in New Jersey takes priority over earlier liens. Because a New Jersey property is identified by its municipality and block and lot, and because a tax sale certificate can sit ahead of a recorded mortgage, a reliable title search reconciles the Register of Deeds and Mortgages, the Superior Court, and the municipal tax records together rather than reading the deed index alone. You can search the municipal and county records yourself for basic information, but a complete examination that confirms the parcel, traces the chain, and surfaces the municipal liens and tax sale certificates is what catches a paramount tax lien or an undischarged mortgage. U.S. Title Records performs the full search and delivers it by email, with the Expanded Title Search ($375) as the most comprehensive option.

A tax sale certificate is the instrument a New Jersey municipality issues when it sells a lien for unpaid property taxes or municipal charges, and it is one of the most important things a New Jersey title search looks for. New Jersey law makes property taxes a continuous lien and requires every municipality to hold at least one tax sale a year. At the sale the municipality does not sell the property itself; it sells the lien, and investors compete by bidding the interest rate down from a statutory maximum of eighteen percent toward zero, and then, if bidding continues, by offering a premium. The winning bidder pays the municipality the delinquent amount and receives a tax sale certificate, which the holder records with the county recording office. The recorded certificate is a paramount lien: by statute it is superior to a prior mortgage and most other claims, and it accrues interest at the bid rate plus a redemption penalty of two, four, or six percent depending on the size of the certificate. The holder typically pays later taxes as they come due to keep that priority, since a newer certificate can otherwise leapfrog ahead. A tax sale certificate matters to a buyer or lender because it sits ahead of the mortgage and, if left unaddressed, can be foreclosed to take the property. U.S. Title Records identifies recorded tax sale certificates in the Lien Report ($95) and the Full Owner Lien Report ($195).

Once an investor holds a recorded tax sale certificate, two clocks start. The first is the property owner’s right of redemption: the owner, or a mortgage holder or other interested party, can redeem the certificate by paying the full amount due, which includes the original lien, the bid interest, any subsequent taxes the holder paid, the redemption penalty, and costs, and redemption can happen at any time up until a court enters a final judgment. The second is the holder’s right to foreclose. A private investor generally must hold the certificate for two years before starting a foreclosure, while a municipality that holds a certificate can proceed by in rem foreclosure in as little as six months. To foreclose, the holder files a complaint in the Chancery Division of the Superior Court, names and serves the owner and every other lienholder identified by a title search, and asks the court to bar the right of redemption. If no one redeems, the court enters a final judgment that bars redemption and vests an absolute, indefeasible fee-simple estate in the holder, who then records a deed and, if the property is occupied, may need a separate eviction to take possession. A recent New Jersey law now lets an owner ask for the property to be sold so that any surplus equity above the debt is returned to the owner. U.S. Title Records surfaces tax sale certificates and their status in the Full Owner Lien Report ($195).

New Jersey is a judicial foreclosure state, which means a mortgage can be enforced only through the courts, not by a trustee selling the property out of court as happens in some other states. For a residential mortgage, the process begins with a notice of intention to foreclose under the Fair Foreclosure Act, followed by a foreclosure complaint filed in the Chancery Division of the Superior Court. Uncontested cases are processed centrally by the Office of Foreclosure, while contested cases are handled in the county vicinage. A lis pendens is recorded to give notice that a foreclosure is pending against the property, the court eventually enters a judgment fixing the amount due, and the county sheriff conducts a sheriff’s sale of the property, after which the borrower has a limited period to redeem or object. Because the process is judicial and the court dockets carry heavy volume, New Jersey foreclosures are among the slowest in the country, so a distressed Essex County property can carry a pending foreclosure for a long time, and the true status is found in the court file. For a buyer or researcher, a recorded lis pendens signals an active foreclosure, and at a sheriff’s sale the surviving liens, including any tax sale certificate, are what matter. U.S. Title Records reports the foreclosure and lien status in the Full Owner Lien Report ($195).

The Realty Transfer Fee is a fee New Jersey imposes on the seller for recording a deed that transfers real property, and it is calculated on the consideration stated in the deed, or in certain cases on the assessed value adjusted by the Director’s Ratio. It applies to essentially every conveyance unless the deed qualifies for an exemption, in which case an Affidavit of Consideration is filed with the deed to claim it. On top of the Realty Transfer Fee, New Jersey imposes an additional graduated percentage fee on the recording of a deed when the consideration paid is more than one million dollars, and that supplemental fee, like the Realty Transfer Fee, is the seller’s statutory responsibility under current law. Because Essex County includes many higher-value homes in towns such as Montclair, Livingston, and the western suburbs, this additional fee reaches a meaningful share of sales. Both fees are paid at recording and are reflected in the recorded consideration and the affidavits filed with the deed, so they show up in the record a title search reviews. U.S. Title Records retrieves the recorded deed and the stated consideration in the Deed Copy ($45) and confirms ownership in the Property Detail Report ($29).

Pricing is the same in Essex County and across every New Jersey county: Property Detail Report $29, Deed Copy $45, Title Search by Name $75, Lien Report $95, Full Owner Lien Report $195, Chain of Title $275, and Expanded Title Search $375. The $29 report is the quick ownership, parcel, and value check, the $195 report is the recommended due-diligence search that includes the municipal lien, tax sale certificate, and foreclosure picture, and the $375 Expanded is the full title examination with chain and tax-sale research. There is no account, subscription, or commitment, one fee per property, delivered as a PDF by email. See the full schedule of fees. BBB A+ since 2009.