Tax sale notice or code letter from the town?
Call or text (973) 520-0243. Liens get paid at closing.
Sell a New Jersey house with tax liens, municipal fines or code violations. We pay them off at closing.
Unpaid property taxes, a tax sale certificate someone bought at auction, water and sewer arrears, open permits, a stack of violation notices. All of it is a lien or a cloud on the title, and all of it gets resolved from the sale proceeds at a NJ title company. You walk away clear.
- Tax liens redeemed from proceeds at closing
- Open violations become our problem
- Unpermitted work bought as-is
- We deal with the construction office
You'll deal with Peter, not a call center. Peter has bought houses with tax sale certificates months from foreclosure, houses with a dozen open violations, and houses where the addition was never permitted. The title company handles the payoff; we handle the town. About Peter
Get an offer that clears the liens
Send the address. We pull the municipal record.
How tax liens and code violations work in New Jersey
They're separate problems that often show up together, and a cash sale resolves both the same way.
Unpaid property taxes become a tax sale certificate. When taxes go unpaid long enough, the municipality sells a lien on the property at a tax sale. The buyer of that certificate earns interest and, after a waiting period, can foreclose. You can redeem the certificate by paying it off, which is exactly what happens from your sale proceeds at closing.
Water, sewer and municipal charges attach too. Utility arrears, vacant-property fees, and unpaid fines can all become liens. The title search finds them; the settlement statement pays them. You don't chase anyone.
Code violations follow the house. A notice from the construction or code office, an open permit from a renovation years ago, an addition or a finished basement nobody signed off on. A retail buyer's lender and attorney will want all of it closed out first. We buy with it open and close it out ourselves.
The house doesn't have to pass anything. If the town requires a certificate of occupancy or a smoke certificate before sale, we schedule it, pay for it and handle any repairs after closing. A house that would fail today is still a house we'll buy today.
Lien and violation situations we buy
None of these require you to fix or pay anything before closing.
- Tax sale certificate held by an investor Redeemed at closing before their foreclosure right matures. The clock stops.
- Years of unpaid taxes to the town Paid from proceeds. If the taxes exceed the equity, tell us and we'll talk through options.
- Open permits from old work Kitchen, deck, electrical. We close them out with the construction office after we own it.
- Unpermitted addition or apartment Bought as-is. Legalizing or removing it is our job.
- Property maintenance violations Overgrowth, exterior, debris, vacant registration. Fines paid at closing; violations transfer.
- Environmental issues Underground oil tank, asbestos siding, lead paint. Priced in, handled after.
Selling with liens or violations, step by step
- Call with the address. Tell us what you know. We'll pull the tax and municipal record ourselves.
- Walkthrough and offer. The offer shows the estimated lien payoff so you see your actual net, not a gross number.
- Title search confirms every lien. The title company obtains payoff figures. Nothing is a surprise at the table.
- Close clear. Liens paid, violations transferred, you receive the balance.
Full process detail on How It Works.
Questions we hear about this
Can you buy my house if the tax lien holder has started foreclosure?
Usually, as long as the foreclosure hasn't been finalized. The certificate is redeemed at closing. Call quickly.
What if the liens are more than the house is worth?
Then a normal sale doesn't work and we'll tell you so. Occasionally a negotiated payoff is possible. We won't pretend otherwise.
Do I have to fix the violations before you'll buy?
No. Not one.
Will the town stop me from selling with open violations?
Generally no. Towns can require a certificate before occupancy changes, which we handle. Fines and liens are settled at closing.
I never got a permit for my finished basement. Is that a problem?
Not for us. It would be for a retail buyer's lender and inspector.
Related situations
Where we buy
Passaic County · Bergen County · Essex County · Morris County · Union County · Hudson County · every other NJ county. Local pages for Wayne, Clifton and more.
Sell clear, walk away clean
Written offer in 24 hours with liens itemized.