New Jersey has its own share of lis pendens foreclosure properties, with majority of them sold at almost half their original prices. Despite the presence of these cheap residences, the state is still facing affordable housing concerns. Recently, the state's Supreme Court tried to address laws governing affordable housing in an effort to widen coverage and provide for more people in need.

A huge number of Newark foreclosures and distressed properties in other areas of New Jersey can be had for very low prices. However, a lot of families are unable to purchase even these bargain-priced houses and most of them are still relying on affordable housing initiatives. The debate on how affordable housing should be handled in the state has gone on for months now.

With very few state residents able to buy foreclosures in New Jersey and other types of residential properties, local officials are trying to iron out policies governing affordable housing. The Supreme Court is re-examining laws designed to force local communities and towns to provide affordable homes to low-income families and individuals. The court is reportedly looking at these laws after the governor and the state Legislature failed to agree on methods of designating affordable home numbers for each municipality.

The debate on affordable housing has been going on in the region for decades now, some housing market observers have revealed. Even when the number of distressed properties and lis pendens foreclosures started rising, local authorities were reportedly still unable to agree on policies, with each town and group having their own recommendations. In October of last year, a proposal to base subsidized housing on growth-share was rejected by a local appeals court.

The concept of growth-share reportedly means that each town will provide affordable homes based on the number of market-rate dwellings that were built in their areas and the number of jobs that towns have added. Other factors might also come into play, particularly with people who buy foreclosures for sale and those who sell them also creating new dynamics for the region's housing industry. The appeals court's decision also reportedly included an instruction for New Jersey to return to its old practice of assigning a number of affordable residential units to each municipality.

Although low-priced lis pendens foreclosures and distressed properties are plenty in New Jersey, a big percentage of the state's residents are still in need of affordable homes, town officials have stated. They are hoping that officials and lawmakers will eventually come to an understanding of how such programs should be implemented.

New Jersey foreclosure listings are a combination of both bank and government foreclosed properties. Like all lien theory states, the home remains the guarantee against home equity loans but the home owner enjoys the sole ownership on it during the repayment tenure in New Jersey. To initiate foreclosure the lender has to file foreclosure plea in the court of law to cease borrower’s ownership rights when the borrower default substantially in the repaying of borrowed amount. Here, the foreclosure process is done through judicial intervention and is known as judicial foreclosure.

According to US federal Law all homeowners are bound to pay property tax to the government. Property tax is a major source of income for the federal government. Tax foreclosures occur when government forecloses a property as the homeowner has defaulted in the payment of property tax. The aim of foreclosure here is to recover the unpaid tax amount and the foreclosure cost. Properties under tax foreclosures list are cheaper as compared to bank foreclosed/owned ones.

If the aim of foreclosure is to recover unpaid debt, the lender files the foreclosure plea in the court of law. Court summons all parties having interest in the property and in general approves the foreclosure for recovery of the unpaid loan amount. To handle matters related to foreclosure, there is a special court in New Jersey. It is known as superior court. It issues pending legal action or lis pendens notice on the property whose owner has defaulted on home equity loans. Foreclosure process for confirmation takes around 250 days in New Jersey. However, it is dependent upon a number of factors like home equity redemption period and any judicial action taken by the homeowner/borrower to protect his property. The whole process is delayed when the borrower appeals for delay payment or declares bankruptcy.

Selling of properties appearing at New Jersey Foreclosure listings can be done after the superior court gives ten days interim time period to the borrower. During this time he can repay the unpaid tax or loan amount to stop foreclosure sale. Any failure leads to issue of foreclosure sale notice in newspapers. The sale of the property is done at courtroom through auction. Before purchasing these properties the buyers are advised to make proper equity evaluation of the property. Along with this litigations and pending dues should be checked.